With the now infamous issue #50 of Batman, we have seen the after effects of Selina leaving Bruce at the altar. Although a shock to many fans, we should take a look at the turbulent romance of these two characters.
But, where did this crazy off again /on again romance get its start? Why do these two characters always seem to be always star-crossed and not star-locked?
Well, let’s look at a little history between the felonious feline femme fatale and the caped crusader of Gotham.
Detective Comics#38, April 1940, was a keystone issue for Batman comics history. Within its page,s we get the first telling of Batman’s origin, the debut of both The Joker and Robin and meet a jewel thief that relied on disguise and trickery to steal jewelry and a piece of the caped crusader’s heart. That thief was known as The Cat, and she would become the primary love of The Dark Knight’s life, Selina Kyle, The Catwoman.
In her debut, the cat costume is missing, but deception, trickery and Batman initial fall for the feline fatale are keypoints that would continue on throughout their shared history.
In “The Jungle Cat Queen” from Detective Comics #211, September, 1954 is a seminal issue in showing some of the complicated aspects of the crooked cat and flying mouse game going on between our masked matchup.
After Catwoman cripples their Batplane, Batman and Robin stick an emergency landing on an island that Catwoman is using as a base. (Because apparantly tropical islands are within the flying distance of Gotham.)
However, after the Dynamic Duo lands, they are forced to put on jungle cloting and are hunted by large, trained cats, becuase this is a Catwoman story after all. Anyway, after a series of mishaps and Robin’s inevitable getting knocked out/playing possum routine, Batman is recaptured and given back his supposedly empty utility belt and uniform and thrown in a river. He escapes, and it becomes apparent the batrope and emergency blade in the belt were left by Catwoan. She escaped and we have a conversation between dad and adopted son on how Catwoman has always been sweet on Batman, and Robin seems to know what’s what between them.
In the 60’s with Batman getting a new look, Catwoman went through a few as well, but none better than the live action version during the 1966 TV series. Played in the big screen feature by Lee Meriwether, and on the small screen by Julie Newmar, and then later by Eartha Kitt, this version of Catwoman would become a guide for the romantic and career tensions between these two. This clip from the 1966 TV series starring Adam West as Batman and Julie Newmar as Catwoman defines the special take television brouught to the Gotham City romance.
With a brief resugance in the 70’s and early 80’s Catwoman was usually relegated to typical villain in her animated and comic appearances. A unique spot during this period was one of the first depictions of a Wayne/Kyle marriage, was in Brave and The Bold Vol.1 #197, April 1983.
Titled “The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne”, and set on a then contunity Earth-2, Wayne tells the story of confronting the Scarecrow and recruiting Catwoman to assist him. During the issue, the tale of Selina Kyle as The Cat, the thief he first encounters in Detective Comics #38, they slowly begin forging the connectons on a romantic relationship during their trials that culminates with Bruce and Selina marrying, (for real in that reality).
Selina Kyle came back to prominence with a solo title and dealing with Bruce Wayne’s temp, Jean Paul Valley.
Tumultuous seems to small of a word to describe what happens between Mr. Wayne and Ms. Kyle, however, there are thse fans that see why tis romance seems to be an eternal one within the fantastic media of DC comics:
“The characters have endured because the characters are timeless. It doesn’t matter what time period you put these two characters in, they can adapt and change to fit the era. And let’s be honest the classic love story that has gone on between the couple never gets old.”-Tara Cole, Pasadena, TX, comic fan and con staffer.
Soon after the debut of Batman: The Animated Series, Catwoman, voiced by Adrienne Barbeau, had an ongong clash and relase relationship on the animated series and within it’s ontinuity. In fact , in an episode of the sequale series Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne reveled that there indeed had beena relatinship with Selina Kyle, to his protege Terry McGinnis, once Terry discussed his problems with courting a villainess his own age.
With troubled turns in Batman Returns with the Selina/Bruce dynamic geing guided by Tim Burton’s dark directing passions, or the non romance between the characters in Christopher Nolan’s overly pragmatic approach in The Dark Knight Rises, their romance is not always meant to be. Tumultuous seems to small of a word to describe what happens between Mr. Wayne and Ms. Kyle, however, with the constant fandom wanting to see these two together, it’s a romance that will swem to last in one form or another. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get a real Bat and Cat marriage in another 5000 issues or so.