The Catwoman character made her debut in Batman vol #1 (which also introduced the Joker) as a cunning jewelry thief and femme fatale under the pseudonym Cat. In Batman vol #2, she appeared as Cat-woman (wearing a purple costume and equipped with a whip). Her character developed over the years, but with a hiatus from September 1954 (Detective Comics vol 1 #211) to November 1966 (Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane vol 1 #70), which was imposed by the activities of the Comics Code Authority, a censorship body established in 1954 in the United States. The original Catwoman (from Earth-Two, or the universe initiated in publications from World War II) died in the DC Super-Stars vol 1 #17 comic book (December 1977), which also introduced her daughter with Bruce Wayne/Batman – Helena Wayne, the early Huntress (later Huntress – Helena Bertinelli – was not Batman’s and Catwoman’s daughter).
In the comic book created by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, titled Batman: Year One (originally published in Batman #404-407 in 1987), a new origin story for Catwoman was presented. Selina was portrayed as a prostitute who, upon hearing about the activities of the masked vigilante – Batman, decides to break away from prostitution and create her image as a masked criminal together with her friend Holly Robinson (who herself later becomes Catwoman). In later comics, she was portrayed more as an antihero than a villain. The secrets of her childhood were revealed – Selina turned out to be the daughter of Gotham’s mafia boss, Carmine Falcone (Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, and Catwoman: When in Rome, written by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale). Her tumultuous relationships with Batman were also depicted (from fierce enemy to lover), including during Batman’s confrontation with Hush (Batman: Hush, written by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee).
She is a great acrobat and can also fight hand-to-hand. Her costume includes retractable claws in her gloves as well as night and thermal vision goggles. She is also a master of all kinds of whips.