DC's Catwoman Comes Out of the Closet

DC continues to move the needle forward for LGBT visibility in comics by establishing Selina Kyle as one of the comic publisher’s highest-profile LGBT characters. After years of fan speculation, the original Catwoman has officially been outed as bisexual, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The character’s sexuality was directly addressed in this week’s Catwoman #39 in a scene where Kyle, who gave up her Catwoman identity to become a mob boss, confronts a new character named Eiko who has slipped into the iconic cat-eared costume in Kyle’s absence. The moment ends with a kiss between the two women.

Catwoman writer Genevieve Valentine wrote a blog post to expand on the scene, noting that the development was something she intended since she took over the series in October and it was “indispensable” to establish Kyle as a “canon bisexual” character.

“Was it a surprise for them? In terms of their sexualities, not particularly; certainly it’s no surprise to Selina that she has an attraction to a woman,” Valentine wrote of the kiss between Kyle and Eiko. “Will they dramatically implode? I mean, it’s comics, it could happen. But it will be a relationship. I’m excited to be here for it.”

“She’s flirted around it – often quite literally – for years now,” Valentine adds about Kyle’s sexuality. “For me this wasn’t a revelations so much as a confirmation.”

With the upcoming Midnighter, the relaunch of Constantine: The Hellblazer, and the now-canceled Batwoman and Voodoo titles, Catwoman is the fifth series from DC to feature an LGBT character in an ongoing comic book since the publisher’s company-wide reboot in 2011.

Catwoman #39, written by Genevieve Valentine with art by Garry Brown, is now available at your local comic shop and digitally.