Batman's had his fare share of allies, including his on-and-off and back-on-again love interest Catwoman (aka Selina Kyle), but the frisky feline's got some sidekicks of her own in DC’s upcoming Catwoman #28, written by Ram V with art by Fernando Blanco.
A former street-hustling orphan, Catwoman has cleared the mob and crooked criminal element out of Alleytown, adopting it as her new home and taking an interest in a cluster of stray kids rummaging its streets. Selina has brought the children under her wing and is teaching them all there is to learn to make sure no one takes advantage of them ever again. Enter: Catwoman and the Strays!
Selina is no alien to subordinates, though. In Ed Brubaker’s character-defining run on the Catwoman title (vol. 3, issues #1–10, 12–37), Selina’s best friend, former prostitute Holly Robinson, served as Selina’s eyes on the street. Selina and Holly’s friendship goes back to Frank Miller’s definitive Batman/Catwoman/James Gordon origin tale Batman: Year One – so who else but Holly to rely on? In time Selina arranged for Holly to be trained combatively by her own mentor, former boxer Ted Grant (aka Wildcat). Holly even replaced Selina for a stint as Catwoman to keep criminals at bay while Selina was predisposed, and additionally, in Brubaker's Catwoman #26 (vol. 3), she managed a group of street kids from Alleytown to act as Selina’s personal infiltrators and crime informants.
Former police officer and current private eye Slam Bradley is also one of Selina’s close allies who's done his fare share of getting her out of a pickle. Leslie Thompkins, who helped raised Bruce Wayne as his surrogate parent alongside Alfred Pennyworth, has also had a healthy relationship with Selina.
DC announced the new creative team of V and Blanco back in May, and they’re appealing to Catwoman fans that love heist stories and high-stakes crime/action dramas. Their first few issues tied into the “The Joker War” arc that’s been shaking up every Bat-Title, but now that the score has settled, Selena is free to roam Alleytown with a mission to claim the streets and a slew of new foes to encounter.
For admirers of Brubaker's run it seems like V and Blanco are indeed taking advantage of the pieces the past writer laid out for our reformed thief: Selina is a protector of the oppressed, she sees herself in a lot of the abandoned children found in Alleytown, and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Fair to say fans have some exciting Catwoman stories ahead us.
Catwoman #28 hits shelves December 15th, with cover art by Joëlle Jones and a variant cover by Jenny Frison. Get your claws on that one.