Catwoman Appreciameow 2019

[Restingvoice]

So, since Selina's background has been a bit variable over the years, I thought I'd ask what versions people like or what versions do they wish we could have had? Or could have in future?

She's been low brow and higher class. A non-killer and a murderer of the innocent. Various versions of her first meeting Batman. And so forth and so on.

I prefer her with low or middle class origins to being raised high class. I much prefer the non-killer version her (that's a general guideline, not a Batman-style rule with her for me).

I do not like Batman: Year One. I do not like her being inspired or rescued by Batman. I don't want him to make her or save her then. It completely throws things off because he has all this prominence and importance in her life that she doesn't have in his.

I'm fine with her being prostitute for a couple years, though not at all attached to the idea. If she is a prostitute, she should not be under 15 (not young enough to likely be referred to as a "child prostitute" and not a sex slave) and should not be a dominatrix and should not serve the high-class set. Just be ordinary, I guess. But she'll learn a skillset that will provider her more money, more challenges, and more fun, and become a thief before the age of 20. She never crosses paths with Batman or Bruce until a robbery, as it was in the golden age initial meeting. They should also be within 4 years of each other's age.

There is nothing about Magdalene's story that I can think of that I like, and I'd erase her existence.

I do like the idea of Selina reforming and then becoming a hero as she did in the bronze age, but once she does, she should stay reformed. Nothing should actually happen between her and Bruce until she does. Though flirting or innuendo before that is entirely acceptable and expected. There are other things later, too, but I want to concentrate on a solid origin story here.

EDIT: I don't know much about her new origin. I know some files were erased. Did she ever learn anything on that front? Is it still in continuity after Rebirth?

What's wrong with dominatrix

Are you talking about the New 52 one where she found an erased file on her while working? I think that one just got completely ignored.

The official New 52 Catwoman back story they used starting Batman Eternal was that she's the child and heir of mob boss Rex Calabrese that predates Roman Falcone. She didn't know this and only found out after she received his letter during Eternal. That's how she became a mob boss in the later stories.

That said, those two backstories don't exactly contradict each other except that Selina was Russian descent in the earlier version and Italian in the latter.

In Rebirth she was raised in a foster home, but that's all I know.

As a child, I prefer the Cat Queen of Crime because Catwoman having pet tigers was hardcore. It took me a while to warm up to the fact that she doesn't have henchmen and secret lairs in the modern iteration. This is why I like the mob boss version because it reminds me of the crime queen of my childhood.

What did warm me up to the solitary cat burglar version was the fact that the whole wild, feral and free aspect of that version is very cat-like. It fits what I think Catwoman's personality should be.

The back story doesn't matter that much for me. The reason I don't like the prostitute version is that whenever some men want to make things Noir, they always make the villainess a prostitute no matter what they're usually defined. Selina by Miller and Harley by Azzarello.