When it comes to beautiful cover artwork from the early 2000s, it’s hard not to think of Jim Lee. And when it comes to the modern-day aesthetics of Catwoman, it’s hard to deny Jim Lee’s contributions. To celebrate 80 years of the feline fatale, DC is releasing a series of "decade variant" covers for their Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1, set to release on April 15th. Spanning from her first appearance in the 1940s all the way through the end of the last decade, the variant covers tell the story of Selina Kyle’s very long tenure in comic books.
Considering how overwhelmingly popular Jim Lee’s pencilling of Catwoman was in the 2002 comic book series Batman: Hush, it’s no wonder he was the artist tasked with representing Catwoman’s early 2000s look. Though it should be mentioned that it was Darwyn Cooke who redefined Selina’s modern look in Catwoman #1 (which came out earlier that same year), Hush became such an iconic moment in Dark Knight history (it was even made into an animated movie) that it was Lee’s specific take that was forever burned in the comic book zeitgeist of the 2000s.
The sleek contours of Catwoman's suit combined with the leather cowl and large domed goggles made this one of the sexiest outfits in comics without even showing any skin. But Lee’s pencilling alone isn’t why his art is so iconic, as he made clear by him sharing the three key phases of his variant cover: pencils (done by Lee), inks (by Scott Williams), and color (by Alex Sinclair). While each phase of the cover is beautiful in its own way, it's the combination of Lee, Williams, and Sinclair that brings it all together.
Other variant covers include the 1940s by Adam Hughes, 1950s by Travis Charest, 1960s by J. Scott Campbell, 1970s by Frank Cho, 1980s by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, 1990s by Gabriele Dell’Otto, and 2010s by Jeehyung Lee. The Catwoman 80th Anniversary special will feature multiple stories by veteran writers such as Paul Dini, Ed Brubaker, Tom King, and Ann Nocenti. Jim Lee’s cover glows with the spirit of his early 2000s work, depicting Catwoman running towards the reader with Batman and Robin pursuing her in the background, her whip endlessly winding up and around her. Sinclair’s coloring is especially eye-catching, decking her out in dark purple rather than classic black.
Catwoman has come a long way since her first appearance in Batman #1 in 1940, appearing multiple times in both animation and live action. Though she has gone through several big makeovers in her 80s years in pop culture, she will always be one of DC’s most recognizable icons.