BATMAN #1 (1940)
by Bill Finger & Bob Kane
The Joker might have taken the spotlight of the issue, but he’s only one of the two major villains introduced in this comic.
What better way to introduce a cat-themed supervillain than in a story taking place on a boat?
One of the passengers owns a very valuable necklace that every criminal apparently wants to steal.
Since it’s a yacht for the rich and famous, it will be easy for Bruce Wayne… to completely skip this case and send Robin undercover. Wait, what!?
Riveting action, I know.
Robin intercepts a message from “the Cat”, and the necklace is promptly stolen.
The Coast Guard shows up to help… but actually it’s crooks who want to steal the necklace, so hilarity supposedly ensues.
The crooks then escape and are promptly captured by Robin and Batman, who finally decided to show up.
I did not expect Batman to break the fourth wall, but there you go.
Then Batman returns to the yacht to interrupt a costume party (???) where he wins the prize for best costume (???) and returns the loot.
All just to have Robin sound the fire alarm, because Batman wanted to check out an old woman’s legs.
Just kidding: he’s figured out that the old lady is, in fact, the Cat.
Now you might be thinking (if you haven’t read the post’s title) why would I review such a random Golden Age story. Well…
Yep! She goes by “the Cat” in this story, but that’s the first appearance of Catwoman.
Batman knocks out her accomplice, and we at at least something to connect her to the modern Catwoman: hitting on Batman!
But it’s not like Batman is going to let a thief go free because she’s hot, right?
Right!?
No wonder this guy will eventually become Superman’s best friend.
Historical significance: 7/10
Despite being Catwoman’s first appearance, not a whole lot will be carried over.
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
Catwoman’s ridiculously effective and quick-to-remove makeup is at least somewhat Silver Age. It would be a 2/10 if it wasn’t for Batman breaking the fourth wall.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Not exactly a memorable story, and quite the whiplash after the Joker one. As a mystery it’s perfectly fine, although with a couple of questionable moments… the second set of thieves was unnecessary, and not having Bruce Wayne on the yacht is just baffling.
Oh, and speaking of questionable moments, let’s not forget:
How close is this to the modern character? 3/10
Let’s see… she has absolutely nothing to do with cats, she’s not in costume, she doesn’t fight… basically the only surviving traits are that she steals jewels and that Batman has a soft spot for her.