About this item
For more than seventy-five years, Catwoman has forged her own path in a clear-cut world of stalwart heroes, diabolical villains, and damsels in distress. Her relentless independence across comic books, television, and film set her apart from the rest of the superhero world. When female-led comics were few and far between, Catwoman headlined her own series for over twenty years. But her unique path had its downsides as well. Her existence on the periphery of the superhero world made her expendable, and she was prone to lengthy absences. Her villainous origins also made her susceptible to sexualized and degrading depictions from her primarily male creators in ways that most conventional heroines didn't face. For good and ill, Catwoman serves as a stark counterpart to the typical evolution of the history of women in comics, and in popular culture generally.
About the Author
Tim Hanley is a comic book historian, and the author of WONDER WOMAN UNBOUND: THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS HEROINE, INVESTIGATING LOIS LANE: THE TURBULENT HISTORY OF THE DAILY PLANET'S ACE REPORTER, and THE MANY LIVES OF CATWOMAN: THE FELONIOUS HISTORY OF A FELINE FATALE. His website, Straitened Circumstances, discusses Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, and women in comics, and his column "Gendercrunching" runs monthly on Bleeding Cool. He has contributed to several pop culture sites, including the Los Angeles Review of Books and The Comics Journal. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, between his massive stacks of comic books.
