Experience tells me that many folk of the Goth persuasion are deeply into their comics and superhero culture, and as that’s not really my bag in any big way, I’m not going to try to speak with authority on all of the various Goth-styled villains and heroes within the comic-con world. If I did, I’d soon show up my ignorance and no doubt make a whole plethora of comical (pun intended) faux-pas, and get my internet-self ripped a new arsehole by Them In The Know.
However, one Goth-styled comic character that has universal appeal and that I think we can all get on board with is DC Comic’s Catwoman, Batman’s nemesis and Goth heroine extraordinaire.
So I’m going to share my Catwoman love here, with a few reasons why Catwoman should be your villainous heroine too. There’s a whole Pinterest board dedicated to all things Catwoman too!
Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle, has been around since the 1940’s, when black leather cat suits were not the lack-of-cause to bat an eyelid (the puns are really flowing today, innit!) that they are today. DC Comic’s Wiki explains the character in more depth, here. The patriarchy has of course historically had a significant bee in its bonnet about strong female characters, and Catwoman dropped out of the Batman universe altogether between the mid 1950’s and mid 1960’s, due to the Comics Codes Authority’s then-newly introduced rules on the portrayal of female characters.
Obviously, Catwoman was initially, and perhaps still mainly, designed to appeal to the male demographic; cat’s ears, a tight black leather suit and holy shit, a whip. While this look might be standard fayre in most Goth and fet clubs today, back in the day, it is fair to say that Catwoman was the first “out” portrayal of a potential female dominatrix, and so from this angle, you have to agree it was a fairly bold move for its era.
Catwoman was one of the first strong, independent female characters in the comic universe, and one that appealed to both men and women alike. She didn’t need rescuing or a bloke to do the heavy lifting for her, and she was never portrayed as a weak or needy character, although inevitably, she did end up having the odd tryst with Batman, because “formulaic plot development demands it,” or something. There’s a whole Tumblr dedicated to the phenomenon too.
As well as having no time for bullshit and not being afraid to get slappy with the whip, Catwoman managed to achieve all of this while dressed in skin tight black leather and perfect makeup; I challenge you to roll out of a club after a few sherries in half as good repair, never mind after leaping around on tall buildings and alternately foxing or assisting Batman as Man About Town of the day, depending on the plot.
A publically voted list of the best Catwoman storylines can be found here.
If you are better versed in comic culture than me, perhaps you can suggest another contender for the Catwoman crown, and we can have some kind of epic blog-based comic villainess death match over it.
My girl will win though.
