James Tynion IV Confirms Tom King's Batman/Catwoman Won't Affect Main Batman Continuity. What Does This Mean For Helena Wayne?

Earlier today, Newsarama confirmed the status quo of Tom King's upcoming Batman/Catwoman maxiseries as being 'outside the bounds of continuity' and won't impact James Tynion IV's own plans for Batman and Catwoman in his Batman run. When enquired about the status quo of Catwoman's pregnancy in the main Batman canon in an interview, Tynion had this to say:

Catwoman 80th Anniversary Special #1: 'Helena' Is Not The Love Letter To Helena Wayne Tom King Thinks It Is

Catwoman 80th Anniversary Special #1 dropped this week, and well...I found it a bit underwhelming compared to the other anniversary comics that came out this year. Namely, the #750 anniversary issues for Wonder Woman and The Flash that were genuinely great, and Robin 80th Anniversary Special #1, which was also a favourite. For the 80-year-old feline fatale, however...I lamentably only liked four stories out of the ten that were featured: 'Skin the Cat', 'The Catwoman of Earth', 'Addicted to Trouble', and 'The Art of Picking a Lock.' Out of the four, 'The Catwoman of Earth' was the closest I got to getting a pre-Crisis Catwoman story.

 

As much as I would love to talk about the four stories I did enjoy from the Catwoman anniversary special (and I'll probably do it as a Patreon exclusive), I'll instead be focusing this post on the Tom King and Mikel Janín 'Helena' story. I will not be reviewing the story itself since my thoughts on Tom King's take on Batman and Catwoman is already pretty well known. But I will focus on King's interpretation of Helena Wayne's origin.

Tom King’s Upcoming Batman/Catwoman Maxiseries From The Perspective Of A Helena Wayne Huntress Fan

It has been a wild week for me this week. Not just because AT&T removed DC co-publisher Dan DiDio from his position yesterday (seemingly as part of a restructuring effort to align DC with AT&T’s multimedia platform with more emphasis on franchising and branding), but also because Batman/Catwoman writer Tom King dropped another tease bomb this week that caused my Twitter feed to blow up.

Upcoming Huntress Collections, Multiverse Comics, And More!

DOLLAR COMICS: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1
Written by MARV WOLFMAN
Art by GEORGE PEREZ and DICK GIORDANO
Cover by GEORGE PEREZ and ALEX ROSS
Reprinting the first chapter of the 1980s classic CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS!
ON SALE 09.25.19
$1.00 US | 32 PAGES | FC

The Best of the Huntress: Wonder Woman #320 Review

Title: Wonder Woman #320
Story: Flashbacks
Characters: Huntress (Helena Wayne), Tom Kelly, June Moorman
Creators: Joey Cavalieri (writer), Stan Woch (artist)
Publication Date: 03 October 1984
Available In: Digital

Summary: Helena Wayne has been having recurring nightmares of late, and they are beginning to affect her sleep. To 'cure' her insomnia, Helena decides to venture out into the night as the Huntress to investigate a series of robberies. As soon as she notices a cat motif to the robberies, Helena is immediately triggered and passes out. Upon waking up, she realises she isn't feeling well, and decides to seek professional help. She goes to the one person she feels she can trust: a new ally in the form of Tom Kelly!

Can Bruce Wayne Be Happily Married To Selina Kyle And Still Be Good At What He Does?

It's been a little over a week now since Batman #50 came out and hopefully everyone reading this post has had a chance to read it. I didn't spoil the plot twist of Batman #50 in part because I wanted to give fans a chance to read the issue and judge the story for themselves, and in part because the plot twist centred around an age-old question that I felt deserved its own post.

If you still haven't Batman #50 and don't want to be spoiled, this is your turning back point as I can't progress with the rest of this post without discussing the plot twist that prevented the wedding from taking place.

Outside of Earth-2 Review: Batman #50 (Spoilers?)

Title: Batman #50
Story: The Wedding
Characters: Batman (Bruce Wayne), Catwoman (Selina Kyle)
Creators: Tom King (writer), Mikel Janín (artist)
Publication Date: 04 July 2018
Available In: Print | Digital

Summary: As Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle prepare for their big wedding day, the couple ruminate about their past history together--from their very first meeting to their present--and think about whether or not this next step is the right future for them. Can they truly be happy together? Will their happiness cost Gotham their guardian Dark Knight? Is it a sacrifice worth making? These are all the thoughts that run through the young couple's minds as they make their way down the aisle.

So You Like The Bronze Age BatCat Marriage, But How Do You Feel About The Rebirth Marriage?

Friends have been asking me to share my thoughts on the upcoming Rebirth marriage for quite some time now, but I have to admit this was not an easy post for me to write. The fact that this is my tenth draft on this topic should speak to my ambivalence about DC's decision to revisit an idea that was canon 40 years ago for a new generation of Batman and Catwoman fans.

Rebirth Second Year Anniversary and Helena Wayne's Future

Yesterday was the anniversary of DC Universe Rebirth #1, which marked the second year anniversary of the Rebirth initiative. Admittedly, I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed by the lack of progress on anything Justice Society related apart from certain members like Michael Holt, Kent Nelson, Carter Hall, and Kendra Saunders resurfacing within the last year.

The Original BatCat Marriage Part 04: Legacy

This final part of the original BatCat marriage discussion admittedly took longer to complete than I anticipated as there was more material to cover in this final post than in the first three posts. The bigger challenge was being able to condense all of the major developments of the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman legacy during the Bronze Age into one single post. This is also the reason this post took longer to see publication.

The Original BatCat Marriage Part 03: The Wedding

We have now talked about the early adventures of the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman and the decisions they later made regarding their respective futures. It is now time to get to the part of them tying the knot. But how do people outside of their immediate orbits feel about Bruce Wayne marrying the now famous, if not notorious Catwoman?

The Original BatCat Marriage Part 02: The Bronze Age

Having discussed Bruce and Selina's Golden Age history as originally written by creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane as well as various others, we now have a strong foundation for their characters. The Bruce Wayne Kane and Finger originally developed came from a dark place of tragedy and revenge, but still believed in people, which factored into how he related to Selina Kyle.

The Original BatCat Marriage Part 01: The Golden Age

It is getting closer to the wedding issue of Tom King's Batman run and it is both an exciting and frightening time for fans. It's an exciting time because this will be the first time that the modern versions of Bruce and Selina follow in the footsteps of their original Golden Age counterparts who were married by 1977. It's also a frightening time because of the unpredictable nature of DC's corporate culture, which often subjects their mainstream line of comics to reboots, resets, retcons, and sometimes status quo shaking storylines and events.

Parallel Realities? Missing Memories? All of the Above? Batman #44 Drops Some Clues

Tom King's Batman has been something of a wild ride in that its been looking to recover past history while at the same time telling new stories since the start of Rebirth in 2016. Though King has been doing his part to follow the standards set by DC president and CCO Geoff Johns for the Rebirth project, very little has been coming together in terms of continuity and (specifically) how the past and its various reboots fit into the current one.

Supposedly, Johns' own series, Doomsday Clock, is set to provide all the answers for all the various changes DC has undergone since its inception in 1938, right through Crisis on Infinite Earths and Flashpoint. However, given that the series is being released on a bimonthly schedule, it'll be a while before we see how any of these pieces will come together. We may, however, have gotten a hint in this week's Batman #44. Spoilers ahead!

Batman Annual #2: Prime Earth Helena Wayne Revealed?

My original plan today was to finish my write-up on America vs The Justice Society for Helena Wayne's 40th Anniversary celebration. But then, Batman Annual #2 by Tom King, Lee Weeks, and Michael Lark also came out today with an additional surprise. Naturally, fans curiously asked me all day today what I thought of today's surprise, which can only mean one thing: we got a glimpse of the Prime Earth Helena Wayne.

Batman Proposes To Catwoman In Rebirth. What Could This Mean For Our Girl, Helena Wayne?

Last week, DC Comics did the unexpected. In the pages of Batman #24 by Tom King and David Finch, Bruce Wayne got down on one knee and proposed marriage to Selina Kyle with a ring using the same diamond she originally stole (in Batman #1 from 1940) that he later bought from the owner. It was a very significant moment in Bruce and Selina's present.

Road to Justice Society Rebirth: What We Know So Far, Week 03 (Spoilers Ahead)

We are on the penultimate chapter of "The Button" this week, and while I didn't expect any Justice Society or pre-Crisis Earth-2 reveals given that this is a Bruce and Thomas Wayne centric chapter, it does setup up for some big reveals for the final chapter. I would say the biggest tease at the conclusion of this week's chapter is--POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT--a revisit of the pre-Crisis DC Multiverse and we may finally see Doctor Manhattan at last.

Road to Justice Society Rebirth: What We Know So Far, Week 02 (Spoilers Ahead)

We are finally halfway through "The Button" story arc with this week's The Flash #21, and plenty of exciting things happen in this week's second instalment that are definitely worth paying the $3.99 cover price for. I won't spoil everything that happens in this week's second instalment, but I do want to talk about what this week's reveals (coupled with past reveals) might mean for the Justice Society's Rebirth. Perhaps we may even see a Rebirth of the pre-Crisis Earth-2 since the original pre-Crisis multiverse is now being teased across various Rebirth books. Really exciting stuff, I can barely contain myself!

And of course, this wouldn't be a Helena Wayne Huntress blog if we didn't spend the rest of the post speculating what this week's reveals might mean for our favourite crossbow-wielding Dark Knight Daughter! Let's get right to it! And oh yes! There are spoilers ahead! Stop here now if you haven't been reading "The Button" or any of the Rebirth comics, and would like the chance to catch up before reading any of my wild theories on what I think is going on. Your call!

Seven Reasons DC Comics Should Love The Huntress, Day 01: She's Batman and Catwoman's Daughter

Dear DC Comics,

For a publisher that's currently engaged in one of the most overt love affairs with Batman any of us has seen in recent years, it's amazing to me how often you ignore Helena Wayne's existence. It is especially alarming how often you downplay her status as a legacy character, her importance and contribution to Bruce Wayne's mythology, often attributing all that she revolutionised to his son, Damian, a character that appeared in comics only eight years ago. You even went out of your way to deny that the Huntress existed as Helena Wayne for two decades, effectively denying her of her own birthright and legacy. I was even surprised you left her out of your 75 Year Batman Anniversary issue of Detective Comics #27 despite being the daughter of the original Golden Age Batman (a character you clearly acknowledged as the character's first incarnation), and despite having stories that explored the idea of Bruce Wayne as a father and husband. It very much says that even you are selective of your flagship character's history, particularly in ways that exclude important women from his mythology.

Secret Origins #7 Preview

SECRET ORIGINS #7
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art by JONBOY MEYERS
Cover by BRYAN HITCH
Huntress, written by Paul Levitz with art by Jonboy Meyer; Superboy, written by Frank Barberi with art by Robson Rocha; and The Flash, written by Robert Venditti and Van Jensen with art by Andre Coelho!
NOVEMBER 26 | RATED T | $3.99 | PRINT | DIGITAL