(PCM) Most people accuse both Marvel and DC of trying to be politically correct with scores of changes to existing characters in the name of diversity. Not true. Their only aim is to increase sales. It’s money they are after and to do so, they go after safe but controversial subjects.
DC has done just that with Catwoman. After 75 years she is now ‘coming out’ as bi-sexual. And DC’s been quick to call it canon. If you are speculator, buy issue no. 39. But don’t expect that issue to ever have any value. Only true first appearances or short print runs yield a return on the investment.
So how does DC make the case Catwoman (Selina Kyle) is bi-sexual? She kisses a girl outright (Eiko Hasigawa) in Catwoman No. 39 of the New 52. The character Eiko is an heiress of the Hasigawa Family part of the Yakuza in Gotham. The relationship between the two hasn’t been stated as a long term plot point making it hard to think DC has any other agenda besides the controversy this shockwave will have in the media.
If you are avid reader, DC has been dancing with this topic ambiguously for some time now as she interacts with other female characters.
The writer responsible for the change in sexual desire of Catwoman is Genevieve Valentine. She took over the Catwoman series in October 2014. In Valentine’s own words regarding Catwoman, “She’s flirted around it – often quite literally – for years now. For me this wasn’t a revelation so much as a confirmation.”
While some see this as a desperate attempt to jumpstart Catwoman again, it will have a hard time overcoming the fact Catwoman isn’t the Catwoman most remember her to be. She’s no longer a chaotic neutral character. She’s now in the camp of the bad guys in a way that isn’t something you want to expose your kids to as a favorable characters. Catwoman now runs a family in the criminal underworld.
If you care that Catwoman is lesbian or bi-sexual in that it changes her relationship with Batman, then yes this change will disappoint you as a fan of the Batman canon, but try to understand that comics can’t tell full stories of characters in the sense that these characters are timeless. They are generally permanently locked into a time of their life that can’t reach closure. They can only constantly evolve and be retold and remolded for the next generation of readers.