“SHE’S A CLASSIC FEMME FATALE!”

Paws for thought with Catwoman comic book writer Devin Grayson

How would you define Catwoman’s eternal dynamic with Batman?

Both Batman and Catwoman spring from the Nietzschean/ Jungian Shadow archetype, but inhabit opposite sides of it. For Bruce, that darkness is carefully – sometimes even reluctantly – channelled into the kind of brutality and menace he needs to be effective as Batman. It’s a force he uses very cautiously, always wary of letting it shut him away from too much of his own essential humanity. For Selina, finding that dark power in her psyche was liberating and she gives herself over to it freely. Embracing the Femme Fatale enriches and deepens her sense of possibilities – it opens up opportunities for her and gives her richer ways of interacting with the world.

Were there previous iterations of the character that particularly inspired you?

I was a big fan of Batman: The Animated Series and definitely heard Adrienne Barbeau’s voice in my head when writing Catty. The other voice I associated with her was Shirley Manson’s. I had so much Garbage on my Catwoman playlist!

Why does the character endure, 80 years after her debut?

Like most of the truly enduring superhero characters,

Catwoman springs from remarkably pure archetypal origins. She’s a classic femme fatale, a model antihero, and perhaps the quintessential cat burglar. When you have a character whose foundation is that solid and timeless, it gives you room to play contemporary riffs off of personality details and history.

We talk about Batman and Joker being opposite sides of the same coin. I like to think of Batman and Catwoman showing us the opposite sides of Gotham. She reminds us that following the rules only makes sense when you have a stake in the society they protect, which feels very timely right now.