Going after the city’s worst criminals, Catwoman is proving that she’s a better hero to Gotham than Batman ever was.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Catwoman #39, on sale now from DC Comics.
When the Bat’s away, the Cat will play. Batman has left Gotham City, leaving it in the care of the rest of the Bat-Family. It would be easy to assume that with the Dark Knight gone, Catwoman would swoop in and make a number of daring plays for Gotham’s biggest scores. After all, her on-again-off-again love interest isn’t around to stop her. Well, Selina Kyle may be doing something important but it’s not exactly in the way anyone expected.
In fact, Selina is proving that she’s a better hero to Gotham than Batman ever was. It may seem odd, considering that Batman has dedicated his whole life to the protection of this city while Catwoman has always been focused on being a master thief. However, she’s turned her passion for theft into a major force for good in Catwoman #39 (by Tini Howard, Nico Leon, Jordie Bellaire and Tom Napolitano). She’s going after Gotham’s biggest mobsters and, although it’s partly for the money, it’s far from the only reason.
With this issue beginning a new run on Catwoman, she has left her old life in Alleytown. Selina cleaned up the neighborhood streets but now she’s making sure the criminals fleeing from the area pay and not just with jewels. Acting like a true hero, Catwoman is trying to make sure those who hurt Alleytown never hurt anyone else. She recognizes that, although they’ve left the innocents of her home alone, they’ll continue hurting others throughout the rest of Gotham City and, eventually, the world. Catwoman has decided to become a hero in the same vein as Batman then, but there are some things that set her apart from Gotham’s most famous protector.
For one, she’s willing to go the extra mile. Batman has a strict moral code and, although his methods can be a lot darker than those of Superman or Wonder Woman, they still tend to be more black and white. Selina doesn’t have this problem. She’s willing to get her hands dirty to take down these criminals. She even exploits a past relationship she had with one of them to get information. Her criminal life is a great asset. The Dark Knight recognized this too and created his own criminal persona, Matches Malone, but Selina’s is genuine and runs much deeper than one of Batman’s many masks.
She also doesn’t care as much for her targets as Batman does. That isn’t to say that Batman cares about the Joker, but he won’t let him die. Catwoman, on the other hand, doesn’t care what happens to the city’s scum. All she cares about is making sure there’s no collateral damage. She’ll let them kill themselves if that’s what it takes and even resorted to blackmail. What’s important to her, above all else, is preserving innocent lives.
Having grown up in Gotham too, she has a deeper knowledge of the city than Batman ever could. He left for years to train and, although that allowed him to hone his skills to perfection, it means he doesn’t have that deeper connection to the city that Selina does. This brings up another major point – Catwoman is still in Gotham and Batman isn’t. The biggest reason why she’s a better hero to the city is that she’s there for it. Whilst the Dark Knight investigates Batman Inc. and goes off with the Justice League, Catwoman stays and fights for Gotham in her own way.
All of this, the looser morals, the criminal connections, the deeper understanding of the city, and her demonstrable availability makes her a better hero to Gotham than Batman. He may be a shining knight but Catwoman is the city’s Robin Hood – robbing the rich to give to the poor. That’s the hero Gotham needs right now.
About The Author
For all the latest Comics News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
