Writer Che Grayson talks all of the details for the upcoming limited series Absolute Catwoman, including how she’s this universe’s Batman.
Absolute Catwoman vs Traditional Catwoman
Selina Kyle has a very similar mentality to the traditional Selina. They both were raised from poor, humble backgrounds and then became thieves to both give to the poor and enrich themselves. However, the Absolute Selina also has a layer complexity. She is of African American and Cuban mixed heritage. This lends to more internal identity disconnection and an upbringing where her race allows people to take advantage of her.
“She learned to be a thief because she understood all of the things, all of the resources that are taken from her and people like her. And so it’s a complete reframing of why Selina Kyle and Catwoman does what she does… the thing that she’s dealing with is this idea of being separated from this home. If you’re torn from a place, who are you?”
Che Grayson on How Selina is Like Batman
This version of Catwoman acts much more like the traditional Batman than even the Absolute universe’s Batman. She is rich, has all of the tech, and even a Bat-family-like team of thieves at her beck and call. An alternate way of describing her is like, Ethan Hunt from the Mission:Impossible movies.
“If she’s the Batman of this world, if she has the wealth and all the gear and all the gadgets, what does that look like?,” When you think about an Ethan Hunt or a Batman, none of them look like her. We’ve never really seen a crew that revolves around her. This idea that instead of a Bat-Family, there could be a cat family is something that I really wanted to play with.”
Che Grayson will co-write the book with Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder. While Grayson tends to jam her scripts with a ton of great ideas, Snyder is there to tell her to slow the pacing down and make things character-focused.
“What [Snyder] has to say is always so clear. There’s always going to be a heart. There’s always going to be a theme. He’s not going to leave you with just, ‘That was the most awesome thing I’ve seen.’ He’s going to leave you with, ‘How do I feel about what these characters went through?’”
Cyberpunk and Thriller Influences
“You’re going to get little bits of cyberpunk, little bits of thriller espionage, and that globe-trotting feel. My biggest influence for her was Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There’s a way that you can be sexy and angry.”
Absolute Catwoman #1 hits comic book shops on June 10th.
Source: AIPTComics.com
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