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.

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.

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.