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    The Many Lives of Catwoman: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale
    The Many Lives of Catwoman: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale
    The Many Lives of Catwoman: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Many Lives of Catwoman: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale

    Written by Tim Hanley

    Narrated by Rachel Dulude

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    For more than seventy-five years, Catwoman has forged her own path in a clear-cut world of stalwart heroes, diabolical villains, and damsels in distress. Her relentless independence across comic books, television, and film set her apart from the rest of the superhero world. When female-led comics were few and far between, Catwoman headlined her own series for over twenty years. But her unique path had its downsides as well. Her existence on the periphery of the superhero world made her expendable, and she was prone to lengthy absences. Her villainous origins also made her susceptible to sexualized and degrading depictions from her primarily male creators in ways that most conventional heroines didn't face.

    For good and ill, Catwoman serves as a stark counterpart to the typical evolution of the history of women in comics, and in popular culture generally. Her adventures have charted an inimitably varied journey of empowerment and exploitation. Exploring the many incarnations of this cultural icon offers a new perspective on the superhero genre and showcases the fierce resiliency that has made Catwoman a fan favorite for decades.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 1, 2017
    ISBN9781541475472

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    Reviews for The Many Lives of Catwoman

    4.5/5

    32 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      THE MANY LIVES OF CATWOMAN: The Felonious History of a Feline Fatale by Tim Hanley is the second study of a comic book icon I have read in the past few months. The other was about Wonder Woman. In both cases they have a long history and are fascinating studies of the writers, inkers, pencilers, and in the case of Catwoman, the actresses who have portrayed her on the big screen, television, and as voice characters for the various animated series she has been apart of.Unlike WW, Catwoman is not a hero character. She has been portrayed as everything from a cat burglar, prostitute, mob boss, heir to a mafia fortune, seductress, lunatic and more. She has fared well on both the big screen and small (sorry Halle Berry, but your take on the Cat was off the mark and I think it had less to do with you than those around you) but in the books, not so much. I’ve noticed that many of the writers seem to have used her to unleash their inner demons or desires and turned her into something other than a regular foe for the Batman. But no matter how they have abused her, the Catwoman seems to have come out all the stronger for it. After all, name any other female opponent to a super hero that has stood the test of time. Female characters in comic books come and go, usually fatally, but Selina Kyle has managed to come back, time and again, no matter what the interpretation has been. Mr. Hanley draws many conclusions in this work and is free with his opinions. You can argue the entire book point by point, attempt to refute his understanding of the material, but I liked it. He has managed to look at every incarnation of Ms. Kyle, whether in the books created by Bill Finger (even though Bob Kane got the credit), the POW! BAM!, KABLOOIE! of the television show, the cartoons, the figurines, and any other versions you could think of. His determination to reveal Catwoman’s entire being and, moreover, her impact on both the Batman and his devoted readers, shows through in every chapter. I listened to this in the MP3 format and was delighted byRachel Dulude’s reading. She brought the necessary joy to the material while also giving a certain amount of formality to this view into the Queen of Comic Villains. Her performance enhanced my experience. I won this book through LibraryThing.
    • 5/5
      This review is for the audio CD version of The Many Lives of Catwoman, written by Tim Hanley and read by Rachel Dulude. I am generally a person who prefers print nonfiction books for both note-taking and references. This is no exception since it is rich in detail and nuance. That said, as an audio book designed for casual listening this is a remarkable edition.For starters, the research and analysis is thorough yet does not bog down the main text of the book. Hanley's insights are both compelling and interesting and brings a wonderful new perspective to both the character of Catwoman as well as the Batman franchise. There are both fun facts any fan will enjoy and detailed analysis to illustrate the changes over the years.I usually prefer a reader to be the same gender as the writer, for instance I was disappointed that Molly Haskell's book on Steven Spielberg was read by a male, the voice seemed wrong. In this case, however, Dulude adds to the strength of the book. Because so much dialogue is incorporated into the text her ability to read the parts in character provided an additional level to the argument Hanley was presenting. This is by far one of my favorite nonfiction audiobooks. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in comic books in general, Batman in particular, and gender roles in comic books both within the narrative and sociologically. For those who might want to study or use this in further research I would recommend adding a physical copy as well. I hope to do so at some point.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 3/5
      The Many Lives of CatwomanAuthor: Tim HanleyAudio: Rachel DuludePublisher: Tantor MediaDate: 2017Disposition: CD-ROM Audiobook_________________________________________________REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSSummary:Catwoman clawed her way through comic book history. The Kane and Finger wars that weren’t fought paint the credited creator in a deservedly bad light. Catwoman plays stark counterpart to the typical evolution of the history of women in comics. The character walked the line between empowerment and exploitation, forefront in one and falling into the depths of the other. This follows her from her origins through her evolution. _________________________________________________Genre:ComicsSupervillainsHistoryLiteratureCharacterWhy this book:Came to me via a free for review._________________________________________________Favorite Character:Catwoman. Her villain to hero to villain , etc forte is very keeping with her cat motif. Her portrayal in the comics ran counter to the prevailing stereotypes of both women and villains, though Batman’s reaction and collusion were pure stereotype. Her role and character kept her on a juxtaposed path in comparison to both women in comics, heroes, and villains. This free her to be a true original in portrayals that in other characters fell deeply into stereotypes. The kiss Batman and escape trope was very overused during her early years. Her mistress-of-disguise routine largely disappeared when her Selina Kyle identity came into tighter focus and her breaking-and-entering phase came more to the fore. My favorite Catwoman was the animal rights activist.Loeb and Sale rescuing the Catwoman character from the sithian darkness that Miller’s woman hating had left the character mired in.Least Favorite Character: Toss up between Bob Kane, Fredric Wertham, and Frank Miller. Miller didn’t create the refrigerating of female leads, but you can see the roots of the concept in his work, in almost every single female lead that Miller wrote. He was bad business for female characters. Miller’s horrible misogyny...how in the hell did some of this crap ever get to print? Frank Miller shouldn’t EVER be allowed anywhere near Catwoman...or any female character, ever, ever again.The Feel:A history lesson.Plot Holes/Out of Character:Her personality and continuity were all over the place from her origins into the 70s, worse after her returns from hiatus.Hmm Moments:Love that Catwoman in the Batman television show got some coverage..Despite the uneven treatment of Catwoman, she had a huge fandom.Between the Joker and the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Catwoman went back to her fully criminal ways.Catwoman’s origins and continuity are confused enough, but it was nice seeing the Earth-2 story where Bruce and Selina were married and were mother and father to the Huntress, even with the continuity of this story being erased.Burton’s Batman Returns had a ton of actresses wanting the part of Catwoman; Ellen Barkin, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Beals, Lorraine Bracco, Cher, Bridget Fonda, Geena Davis, Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madonna, Demi Moore, Lena Olin, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Annette Benning, Raquel Welch, Sean Young. Benning got the role, but discovered she was pregnant just before shooting; leading to another round of casting with Michelle Pfeiffer getting the role.WTF Moments:Hard to believe that the Bat books went 12 years through the Seduction of the Innocent-Wertham era without a Catwoman appearance. The author almost lost me agreeing with some of Wertham’s points. I see them as fruit of the poison tree. Wertham was focused way too much on Robin’s genitals, if you ask me. He went looking for answers he expected and massaged and bent his data to support it, including concatenating patient testimony and changing it to more closely align with his suppositions. For such an “ethical” crusader, out to save children, Wertham certainly had a lack of ethics. Wertham played the Batman and Robin are gay, Wonder Woman is a lesbian, and Superman is a Nazi card. The jackass had no freaking clue. Based on the evidence, it wouldn’t surprise me if Wertham was the king of leading questions.Catwoman’s popularity in the television series and their desire for a female hero lead DC to create Batgirl in 1967. And Catwoman’s comic reappearance in Lois Lane gave impetus to her return to the Batman comic family.They let Bruceman be a total dick to Catwoman when they linked the two characters romantically. His double identity gave him a uneven power dynamic since she didn’t know he was both and he did know she was.Though being a hero in her 80s solo series and meting out rough justice, she was having a guilt reaction about Bruce. Psychobabble bullshit.Playing Catwoman as a hopelessly romantic foil harmed the character.Meh / PFFT Moments:It was the Golden Age. A shaving nick gives away who Batman is to a one shot femme fatale character. Well...meh.The whole Robin vs Catwoman dynamic for Batman’s attention.Miller’s post-Crisis reimagining of Catwoman was pitiful. Going from her classic criminal background and schizophrenic continuity to the prostitute-dominatrix that he turned her into was too much of a headsnapper. Meh.I disagree with the love lauded on Miller’s Dark Knight, always have.Geez. Tracing pornography and putting masks on the images to portray female characters...double geez. RUFKM.Balent and the defense of Balent sounds like mansplaining. I wondered if they were going to cover that Catwoman movie. Whew! Waves hand to clear the air. Waste of a good actress and decent source material.Wisdom:DC should have done something about the image plagiarism and the subcontractor model that Kane was employing. How many unheralded and uncredited artists and writers were swallowed up by the Golden Age shysters?Comic book universes based on daddy issues. Damn. Just damn._________________________________________________Last Page Sound:Interesting, long winded, but interesting.Author Assessment:Definitely look at other stuff by this author.Knee Jerk Reaction:glad I read it_________________________________________________
    • 4/5
      Thorough and brimming with affection for the subject, Tim Hanley's latest examination of the publication history of a female comic book protagonist will keep fans entertained, newbies informed, and provide plenty of enrichment for both.
    • 4/5
      I received this through the Early Reviewers program. This was very interesting. Strictly a year by year history of the character Catwoman. Very detailed history as well as short concise chapters made this a good book to listen to in the car on the way to work. The narrator was very good and the subject was interesting. My only complaint was the MP3 disc would not play in any but the most elite CD players, leaving out a lot of people who could enjoy this story.
    • 5/5
      This is a very interesting biography of a fictional villain known as Catwoman. Author Hanley covers creation of the character, actor who played the character on television, in the movies, and in literature. Besides reviewing Catwoman’s social and economic environments, he examines the character’s impact on feminism and sexual stereotypes. Source notes, bibliography, and an index are provided in the Kindle and paperback versions. Rachel Dulude is an experience narrator. Rachel captured the essence of Catwoman and distinctly spoke each word. She did an excellent job narrating the book for the audio version.LibraryThing Early Reviewers Giveaway randomly chose me to receive this book. Although encouraged, I was under no obligation to write a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
    • 4/5
      After I received my copy of "The Many Lives of Catwoman . . ." By Tim Hanley, I popped it into my car CD player planning on listening when I drove. It came in a nice format with the ability to convert it to MP3 format if desired. Two people saw the case sitting in the car and asked about, ultimately stating they wouldn't mind listening to it after I was done. First person was a co-worker and fellow geek, the second was someone who has been exposed to geek culture but doesn't immerse herself in it. As I listened to the book, I pondered who would get more out of listening to the CD. My recommendation would be my fellow geek and historian over the casual reader.The book deals with the history and publishing of the Batman comics and the history of Batman n the media starting with the controversy of who was involved in the creation of Batman and the Batman mythos. I didn't feel there were any great revelations for those who have studied the medium but if you weren't a history geek about comics it could be interesting. A lot of discussion of the early years also gave way to discussion of the comic book medium itself. A lot of interesting stuff with Catwoman not always being in the forefront. Because of the insight and depth of the material, I don't know if the casual reader wanting to know about Catwoman and what makes her tick would enjoy the book. I say this because the book is more about politics of comics and characterization then about the character herself. There are recaps of most of her appearances but they are used to talk about the times and the market. Being that comics have been a mercurial market you find that Catwoman's characterization has been mercurial too.Because it is a book on CD, I feel obligated to mention the narrator. Rachel Dulude has a pleasant voice and it may lessen the impact of some of the feminist leaning views. That isn't a dig towards feminism but that this was researched and written by a man. It really is a perception piece when listening to the narrator.All in all, I enjoyed the jaunt down memory lane and marveled at the work that went into deciphering a very enigmatic character.
    • 4/5
      As a fan of the original Batman TV show(Adam West version)as well as the animated series back in the day, this book about Catwoman was a must-have for me! Tim Hanley chronicles the creation of the Caped Crusader's ultimate nemesis and possibly true soul mate in all of her incarnations over the years, giving great insights into the evolving character development(and at times, cheesy exploitation) that the Princess of Plunder has been given from print to screen.Yes, the infamous Catwoman movie is covered here-it gets a full chapter of it's own!-and other media is taken on as well. Hanley has also written books about Wonder Woman and Lois Lane, both of which are fascinating in-depth looks at these iconic fictional females and Catwoman completes this trilogy purr-fectly!
    • 4/5
      Book received from Edelweiss.This is the first book I have read by this author. So far his books seem to focus on the women in the comics and how they have traditionally been treated by the creators. I requested this one because Catwoman has always been my favorite Batman villain. While my first introduction to her was in the campy 60's TV show, I quickly picked up the few comics I could find that had her in it. I think he did really well explaining the reasons the character changed so much from her introduction to the present day. I really loved the book and hope to get myself a copy soon to add to my shelves.