All good detective stories come across a femme fatale at some point, so for the World’s Greatest Detective to deal with a dangerous woman only made sense. It was 80 years ago that we were introduced to one of Batman’s greatest foes – and later ally – in the pages of 1940’s Batman #1.

Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Selina’s design was inspired by various actresses of the 1930s, such as Jean Harlow, and was created with the intent to add a bit of sex appeal to the comic. Aside from that, she stood out from the other members of Batman’s rogues gallery at the time in so much that she wasn’t necessarily evil, nor was she a killer – simply an antagonistic presence in Batman’s life.

In the context of Batman #1, Selina’s alter-ego was simply known as “The Cat,” and she was a burglar revealed at the end of the story who disguised herself in order to commit her crimes. She appeared in the following two issues, continuing to evade Batman and Robin and established herself as a force to be reckoned with.

Her backstory has changed a few times over the years. In Batman #62, Catwoman’s origin was revealed as having been a flight attendant who suffered amnesia and eventually turned to a life of crime. Over the course of the following few issues, Selina was somewhat reformed, even to the point of directly helping Batman. Much later, that backstory was revealed to have been a fabrication in Brave and the Bold #197, with Catwoman admitting she had made the whole thing up, and that she fell into a life of crime after leaving a bad marriage, beginning with her enjoying the rush she got when stealing her jewelry out of her estranged husband’s vault.

Though today she’s ostensibly one of the most iconic women in comic book history, Catwoman was actually totally absent from comics between 1954 and 1966 – thanks in large part to her being in violation of the Comics Code Authority’s guidelines for how women should be portrayed, which took effect in 1954. So rather than revamp the character, the writers just didn’t use her at all. When she returned, the character took part in some storylines (mainly in the 1970s) in which she committed murder; these were later retconned as to have happened on Earth-B, with this particular version of Catwoman being essentially non-canonical, as murder is something that the Golden/Silver Age Catwoman never would have done.

Other stories have offered further reinterpretations of the character’s backstory. In 1987, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli released Batman: Year One, in which Selina appears as a woman working as a dominatrix who begins to study martial arts in order to break away from her abusive pimp. The 1989 Catwoman limited series by Mindy Newell and J.J. Birch expanded on this in the “Her Sister’s Keeper” storyline; in it, Selina kills her former pimp to save her sister, Maggie. However, Maggie’s entire existence is neglected later on in Catwoman Vol. 2, in which Selina’s mother committed suicide when Selina was young, and Selina ended up in an orphanage and later in juvenile detention. The detention administrator later attempts to drown Selina when she discovers evidence of embezzlement, though Selina survives and is taken in by Mama Fortuna, the leader of a group of thieves. She hones her skills under Mama Fortuna, though, alongside her friend Sylvia, eventually escapes from there as well. Elements of these stories were blended together over the course of the events of Catwoman: Year One, in which Selina (now an adult) is a low-level thief who botches a job and must work undercover as a dominatrix. In Batman: Dark Victory, she begins to suspect she’s the daughter of Mafia boss Carmine Falcone, a connection which was expanded upon in the Catwoman: When in Rome miniseries.

That’s all a pretty roundabout way to simply say: Selina Kyle’s backstory hasn’t ever really been 100% definitively laid out. What’s been consistent about her is that she’s always been a thief with a fairly grey sense of morality.

Though introduced as an antagonist to Batman, Catwoman has starred in her fair share of comic books as well. In addition to the previously mentioned limited series in the 1980s, she received her own ongoing book starting in 1993; this Catwoman series featured somewhat of a revolving door of writers, but generally was penciled by Jim Balent. Over the course of the series she adopts her former sidekick, moves to New York City, and attempts to run for mayor before the Trickster connects Selina to her alter-ego before returning to Gotham. The Catwoman series ended at issue 94, with the belief that she had been killed by Deathstroke. Of course, deaths are hardly ever permanent in comic books, and the story of what truly happened to Selina was unveiled in the “Trail of the Catwoman” storyline by Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke that ran as a backup story in Detective Comics #759-762. This story would later lead into the 2001 Catwoman series, which sees Selina acting as more of a heroine than before.

Catwoman would play major roles in the events of Salvation Run, Batman R.I.P., Battle for the Cowl, Blackest Night and The Return of Bruce Wayne, continuing her morally ambiguous ways and eventually taking on a sidekick known as Catgirl in addition to acting as a love interest for Bruce Wayne.

In June 2009, DC launched Gotham City Sirens, a title that focused on Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman. The trio take on numerous threats, with Catwoman helping to uncover the real criminal behind a string of murders and arson cases that Ivy was framed for, among other storylines. Catwoman eventually goes on a private excursion in order to track down her mentally unstable sister, Maggie, in the “Sister Zero” arc. The series ended in 2011 with the three ladies going their separate ways.

DC Comics relaunched their entire lineup of heroes under The New 52 in 2011, and Catwoman received a new ongoing series in September of that year. This story focused primarily on the character’s earliest days as Catwoman, beginning with having her apartment broken into and then blown up. She later is shown in a romance with Bruce once again, and even joins the new Justice League of America, a team-up that plays out during the Trinity War crossover event.

In 2016 things were relaunched once again with the DC Rebirth event, with Catwoman playing a major role in the Batman books. This series once again revamped Selina’s origin story, with her having been orphaned at a young age and being sent to the Thomas and Martha Wayne Home for the Boys and Girls of Gotham. She is once again shown to be in a relationship with Batman, and he eventually proposes; though a flash-forward shows them to be seemingly content and a loving couple until they pass, Selina is shown calling off their engagement and leaving Gotham for California in a new Catwoman series.

The character has also appeared throughout other forms of DC media, in film, on television, and in video games. Actresses that have portrayed her have included the likes of Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriwether, Carmen Bicondova, and Michelle Pfeiffer, among many others.

Whether she’s been an antagonist, an ally, or an amorous interest to Batman, Catwoman has proven herself to be one of the most intriguing ladies in comic book history. Her popularity continues to lend itself to collectibles of all sorts, from comics to figures and just about everything beyond.

A full version of this article can be found in The Overstreet Price Guide to Batman, available now.