DC Just Revealed Catwoman’s Shocking Past (& It Might Redefine the Character Forever)

Catwoman has always been a fan favorite character. Whether Selina is trying to steal the world’s largest cat-shaped emerald, fighting to save Batman’s life from some kind of horror that Gotham holds, or living a whole new life, Catwoman always captures the hearts and attentions of fans. DC’s best cat burglar has had a rough couple of years, with the most recent example being her nine-lives for nine heists adventure taking her on a magical journey. Her newest arc has returned Catwoman to her street-level threat and grounded roots, and may have just redefined a big part of her origin.

If you haven’t been keeping up with Torunn Grønbekk’s current run on Catwoman, it follows Selina as she deals with the fallout from, shocker, a dark time in her past that has come back for all of her lives. Specifically, it’s from before Selina ever donned the cat ears, when she was a part of a world-class crime team run by the sinister Belov rime family and went by the fake name Evie Hall. In the present day, Selina and her old teammates are being hunted and assassinated by the scattered remains of the Belov family, with multiple of her old crew already being taken out. They’ve chased Selina all across the world, and her only ally is the team’s old gal in the chair, Suzy Sinner.

If you haven’t been following the run as closely as you can, I can’t blame you. The last five issues have been fairly lackluster as we learned the names of who is after Selina, but not who they are or why. We were introduced to a few people that Selina was supposedly close to, and then a few pages later would see them killed. Needless to say, we lacked essential context to truly get invested in the story. That changes with issue 75, however, as we finally get the first look into why Evie Hall is being targeted by the Belovs. 

What is the Truth of Selina’s Past?

Most of the time when looking back at Selina Kyle’s past we see the tale of a tragically lonely woman who has fought tooth and nail to learn how to survive this world on her own. There are always a few friends, a lover and a mentor or two, but by and large Catwoman operates on her own. All of that is called into question when we get our first look at the team Selina once ran with. It’s a pretty big squad with combat experts, infiltration and disguise masters, a hilariously evil boss, the tech lady in the aforementioned Suzy, and Selina herself being a conwoman for the socialites they make their prey. This large and organized group is a far cry from the personal training and burglary that we’re used to seeing from Catwoman.

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Rocking blonde hair and going by the alias Evie, Selina narrates that she stuck with the group because it was fun. She was still pretty early in her career, experienced enough to be really good but not old enough to have returned to Gotham. Even beyond having fun with the group, however, she was particularly close to another member named Shota. She loved him, and when things inevitably started to go downhill, he asked her to run away with him. Catwoman, however, can never run from a heist.

How It All Went Wrong

Selina’s team was supposed to do a simple job of breaking into Ben Fournier’s house to steal information from his computer. However, their boss Belov refused to tell them anything about the job, and insisted Selina and Shota take two extra men with them for the infiltration. They all could tell that something was different about this job, that it was personal, but they all stuck it through to the end, because that was what they did. Selina’s crew snuck inside Frounier’s house disguised as tech for his security system, and Selina did manage to steal the data.

But that’s when things went south. A man named Mitya showed up and started watching Suzy, which set off alarm bells to Selina. Before she could do anything, she heard gunshots. She rushed out to find the two men Belov forced her to bring executing everyone in the house, saying they had to send a message. Instead of a simple robbery, Selina Kyle had made herself an accomplice to multiple murders, which is something she’s always tried to distance herself from in the past.

This change could bring massive changes to Selina’s mythos going forward. The people hunting her in the present day don’t seem intent on quitting anytime soon, and her dark history with Belov might finally be catching up with her. Whatever happens, we know that Selina’s involvement will definitely not reflect back on her well if she happens to meet up with members of the Bat Family anytime soon.

Catwoman #75 is on sale now.