Today, we look at how DC went through a hilarious period where the company wasn't quite sure whether Catwoman knew Batman's secret identity or not and then had a similar problem when Batman learned Catwoman's secret identity out of seemingly thin air.

This is "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking," a feature spotlighting notable examples of retcons that don't fit into the framework of Abandoned an' Forsaked, which is specifically about stories that outright "overturn" older stories. There are many examples of "retroactive continuity" that do not actively abandon the works of the past (especially cases where the overall continuity was rebooted). Some of them are minor, some of them are major, all of them are interesting enough to me that I figure that they are worth writing about.

Okay, recently, I did a post about when Batman and Catwoman first learned each other's secret identity (we're talking in the "main" DC continuity, of course, and not counting the absolutely brilliant Earth-2 story of how Batman and Catwoman got together in that world, where Alan Brennert did another one of his "Oh, hey, it's me, Alan Brennert, I'm just going to do this one-off issue and totally blow your mind" stories that he is so well known for).

However, the post led to a few fascinating questions about DC's handle on Catwoman's knowledge of Batman's secret identity and Batman's knowledge of hers Post-Crisis that I thought really were quite interesting, so I'll just take on each one of those topics individually, starting with my pal Joshua Lapin-Bertone (who was recently spotlighted by James Gunn for an article he wrote. Yay, Joshau!), who mentioned an article he wrote about Catwoman's knowledge of Batman's secret identity that spotlighted just how crazy the whole thing was handled back in the 1980s, so let's take a look at that whole mess first.

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DC COULDN'T KEEP TRACK OF WHETHER CATWOMAN KNEW BATMAN'S SECRET IDENTITY OR NOT

First, let me repeat my original bit about when Catwoman first learned Batman's identity.

In 1979's Batman #308 (by Len Wein, John Calnan, and Dick Giordano), Selina Kyle visits Bruce Wayne and announced that she was done as Catwoman and now that she was pardoned, she wanted to become a respected citizen. Wein soon had her become a love interest for Bruce.

In Batman #323 (by Wein, Irv Novick, and Bob Smith), Selina had to take up her Catwoman identity once more to clear her name of a crime that she did not commit.

Once she successfully did so, she remained as a costumed adventurer and hero.

Okay, so Batman and Catwoman sort of had a relationship and also, Bruce and Selina had a relationship, but what about Catwoman knowing that Bruce WAS Batman? Here's the weird answer. Well, you see, Catwoman left Gotham City for a time and Bruce started dating Vickie Vale. In Batman #355 (by Gerry Conway, Don Newtwon and Alfredo Alcala), Catwoman freaks out and attacks Bruce and Vicki, driving their car off of the road and sending Vicki to the hospital.

Batman confronts Catwoman and she is VERY angry at him! However, during their first, Batman sure acts like Catwoman knows that he IS Bruce Wayne, right?

And when she almost actually KILLS Batman, she realizes that her anger and jealousy had gone too far and she confirms that she knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne...

However, in Batman #389 (by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake), suddenly Catwoman has to be blindfolded to get into the Batcave, which obviously suggested that she didn't know Batman's secret identity...

People were all, "What the heck?" So DC actually addressed the topic in a letter column, noting that it was a mistake on their part to have Catwoman say she knew Batman's secret identity.

POST-CRISIS BATMAN CONTINUITY HANDLED LOTS OF THINGS ODDLY

Things were a bit uneasy when it came to continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths. In a story clearly set AFTER Crisis, Detective Comics #569 (by Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis and Paul Neary) showed the Joker, annoyed that Catwoman had reformed, brainwashing her into becoming a villain again...

As we saw in the next issue, it worked...

In this story, she knew Batman's secret identity before the brainwashing but forgot it afterwards. This was obviously a case of Barr trying to respect the past while resetting the character for the future but, well, a couple of things. First, how does Catwoman know his secret identity if DC just did a big to do about her NOT knowing it? Secondly, while this was nominally Post-Crisis, DC sort of delayed the Batman continuity reboot, waiting until Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, and that story superseded the Barr one, and so even though Catwoman made it through Crisis as still Batman's love interest, that was all erased when her history was rebooted during "Year One."

As a result, she and Batman really didn't have a whole lot of interactions over the next decade or so. When she hitched a ride with Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth as Selina Kyle during Knightfall, Batman didn't even know she was Catwoman!

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SO WHEN DID BATMAN LEARN CATWOMAN'S SECRET IDENTITY?

Okay, so if Batman and Catwoman no longer knew each other's secret identity, then how come Batman knew her identity when he revealed his to her in the famous "Hush" storyline by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams in Batman #615 ?

Well, just like how Catwoman just sort of knew Batman's secret identity out of nowhere, the same was true for Batman, who just started calling her "Selina" in Birds of Prey #27 (by Chuck Dixon, N. Steven Harris and John Nyberg) during the "Officer Down" storyline...

To be fair, though, in Catwoman #67 (by Devin Grayson, Jim Balent and John Stanisci), Selina Kyle became a vice president at a Wall Street corporation...

and she had gotten herself made CEO by the end of the issue...

This set her up to run for Mayor of New York in the next issue (Marlo Alquiza now on inks)...

Okay, so Selina Kyle is obviously a very public figure by this point, so when "Catwoman" was arrested and sentenced to a prison facility in Catwoman #79 (by Bronwyn Carlton, Staz Johnson and Wayne Faucher)....

I think you could argue that Bruce Wayne could have put two and two together, considering he was now calling her "Selina" in the "Officer Down" storyline, which was contemporary with Catwoman #90.

At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Thanks to Joshua for the information, as well as Rob H. for the Barr/Davis Post-Crisis question and a few different people who wondered when Batman found out Catwoman's secret identity Post-Crisis.

Okay, folks, feel free to suggest more examples of this sort of thing! Obscure ones, famous ones, whatever! Send your suggestions to brianc@cbr.com!

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