[Update] WILL PFEIFER ON CATWOMAN: ONE YEAR LATER

[MattBrady]

UPDATED 12/22 [below] with new spoilerific info and comments from Will Pfeifer

The One Year Later teases that were spilled out in the March DC solicitations have ranged from the hinteriffic to completely obtuse, with a few giving solid plot points, and others letting you guess at the meaning of the phrases.

Not so much with Catwoman. With March’s issue #53, the solicitation is pretty clear:

It’s One Year Later…and why is Selina Kyle no longer Catwoman? For that matter, why is she no longer named Selina Kyle? The new art team of David Lopez (FALLEN ANGEL, WONDER WOMAN) & Alvaro Lopez (Breach, Batgirl: Year One) joins series writer Will Pfeifer as the Catwoman you know is irrevocably changed, and a new member joins the cast — one that’s certain to shock you!

We spoke with Pfeifer, and he made no bones about hiding it – Catwoman is no longer Selina Kyle One Year Later – and for that matter, Selina Kyle is no longer Selina Kyle One Year Later.

Well…maybe it makes more sense when it comes from him…

Newsarama: First off – Catwoman is no longer Selina under the mask. So who is?

Will Pfeifer: Without revealing any identities, the new Catwoman is someone with a less experience than Selina Kyle -- though she's not completely inexperienced, and she's been part of that shadowy world Catwoman inhabits for years. She's had training, and she's been on the mean streets, but she's going to make some mistakes. She's also going to handle her duties of protecting the East End in a completely different way than Selina, which so far has been very interesting to write. Selina is so smooth and polished; it's fun to write about someone who's a little rougher, a little sloppier.

NRAMA: Any hints as to why Selina is no longer Catwoman?

WP: Let me just say a lot has happened in the past year -- people live, people die, things change, and Selina has been forced to leave her beloved East End. Big tease, I know, but that's all I can say right now.

[Update: Well, that was then and this is now. With the release of this week's Wizard, the (and please pardon us for saying it) cat is outta the bag. Newsarama tracked down Pfeifer at the start of his holiday vacation for some additional comments. We found him hazed out on cold medication, but not one to disappoint, Pfeifer had a few new words...]

WP: Yes, now that the birth announcement has been printed by Wizard, apparently I can reveal the big news that half of cyberspace already guessed. Selina is indeed having a baby.

I'm not going to reveal who the father is (and, for awhile, neither is Selina), but I will say this: This plot twist is going to reveal some different sides to Selina's personality, and we're going to actually treat this pregnancy/birth seriously, and not as some cheap stunt.

What would happen in someone used to costumed adventure found herself pregnant? What kind of questions would she face before the birth, and what sort of responsibilities would she face afterwards. She loves the kid, obviously, but she also loved the life she had -- which one wins out?

It opens a whole new barrel of storylines that I'm looking forward to delving into, and there's nothing like throwing a huge change into someone's life to make things interesting. This is one storyline that would come to a neat, tidy conclusion, I assure you of that.

Whether you love the idea of her having a baby or hate it with a passion, I'm gonna put you (and Selina) through the wringer on this one.

Stick around.

[And while we had him on the line, we also asked for a brief comment on another bit of news broken in the pages of this week's Wizard - a 3-issue Spectre: Dead Again limited series that Pfeifer will write reportedly to be drawn by Al Barrionuevo and featuring the reluctant new host of DC's Spirit of Vengeance.]

WP: As for the Spectre mini, I don't want to say a whole lot right now (maybe that's because of the cold medicine, which is really kicking in at the moment), but the Spectre has always been a favorite character of mine, ever since I saw a Golden Age reprint of his origin as a kid. (Strangely enough, he's also my mom's favorite comic book character, no kidding. Go figure, eh?)

This series also will explore the big questions that the Spectre's existence has always implied -- what's the different between Man's justice and God's justice? Is the Spectre always right, just because he's a divine agent of vengeance? How does a human really interact with such a cosmic being? I've never written a series quite like it, and I'm having a lot of fun so far.

[Newsarama now returns you to your regularly scheduled Catwoman interview...]

NRAMA: And along with leaving the East End, she’s also had to leave the name “Selina Kyle” behind as well?

WP: Right. Part of the big changes in Selina's life have resulted in a brand new name. She's still the Selina Kyle we all know and love, but for various reasons -- one of them being safety -- she's had to make a big change in her name. I won't reveal it here, but I promise you'll learn the new name and the reason for it in issue #53, right off the bat.

NRAMA: Getting into the mechanics of it production-wise, how did you come at the OYL jump? When you were notified that the jump was coming, did you simply move ahead in your larger picture view of Catwoman and move to things that you were planning on anyway, or did you move, perhaps, to make a more drastic change than a year's worth of stories might have necessarily produced?

WP: Actually, things were coming to an end regarding the story arcs I was working on -- my first, "The One You Love," and the second "Backward Masking." Given some things that happened in "Backwards Masking" regarding Zatanna and Selina's past, it led to a nice dramatic “holy s__t!” moment to finish off the arc, which then led right to a skipped year and a return to the book with all sorts of crazy changes that took place over the past 12 months. Once I heard about the OYL jump, all sorts of subplots started to pop into my head, and the nice thing about the 12-month jump was I could have them already full blown and then go back and reveal what happened bit by bit. I've always been the sort of writer who likes someone to throw a roadblock in my way and force me to go around in a different way. Sure, sometimes it's a pain, but a lot of times it leads me to ideas I never would've had otherwise.

NRAMA: While 52 will cover a lot of the DCU ground from the missing year, how much of the Catwoman changes will be in there versus what you'll be spilling out slowly in the series?

WP: I'm planning to cover a lot of the Catwoman changes in the book itself. In fact, even facts that are covered in 52 will probably be dealt with in Catwoman because a) it'd be nice to fit them into the same tone and mood as the rest of the story and b) I'm a greedy bastard when it comes to my characters, and like to handle the big emotional moments myself -- even if they get told elsewhere, too.

NRAMA: Will others in Gotham know that Selina's no longer under the mask? Can you offer any insight into their reactions?

WP: They know, and they understand -- even if they're not thrilled about it. Other than her tight circle of friends, no one else knows, though. At least at first.

NRAMA: That said, Selina has been the protector of East End, effectively keeping the larger criminal elements of Gotham out of her part of the city. Won’t the criminals of Gotham realize that there's a less experienced girl under the mask now, and perhaps make a move for the East End?

WP: There will be some of that, sure, but most of the criminal underworld still thinks it's Selina, so they keep their distance. They're still wary after seeing how she cheated death and dealt with Hugo Strange and company in "The One You Love."

NRAMA: But still – for someone with Selina’s will and connections, changing her name and taking on a new identity seems drastic, almost like she’s running away…let’s run down some possibilities for the new identity…

Is she: Is running for office?

WP: She's way too smart for that.

NRAMA: In witness relocation/protection? Close, but no, not quite.

NRAMA: she’s joined the Green Lantern Corps?

WP: You know, she's a classy lady, and never been one for the cheap costume jewelry you have to wear. Sorry, no.

NRAMA: After Infinite Crisis, she now goes by the name Selina Wayne?

WP: Not quite. I reveal her new name in issue 53, then reveal the reason for it a few pages later. I'm wondering if anyone will guess the significance of it before the reveal.

NRAMA: She becomes a nun?

WP: No, though going from the leather catsuit to the black-and-white nun's outfit....there's something there, eh? Did you see Kate Winslet as a nun on the HBO show Extras? Not bad. Maybe I should re-think this nun thing after all...

NRAMA: Did she have to take a new identity because she was grievously injued and required long-term treatment?

WP: No, but she did require medical treatment...

NRAMA: Is she the Spectre's new host?

WP: Ha! No, but I know who the host is...I know very well who the new host is.

NRAMA: Aside from Selina, the solicit claims a new cast member will join who will shock readers. Any clues?

WP: The new cast member? She's never been seen in the DCU before, though the name might sound familiar to longtime fans. How's that? Oh, and to be very clear, the new Catwoman and the new cast member are two different characters. One has been in the DCU for a long time. One is brand new.

NRAMA: Finally, the solicit copy says Catwoman is “irrevocably changed,” which is pretty hard to pull off in comics considering dead isn't even permanent. How irrevocably, and how changed?

WP: I know that's the oldest trick in comics hype, but these really are some long-lasting changes that effect Selina at the very core of her being. The stuff I'm throwing at her, she'll be coping with for a while. I promise.

[tralfaz]

baby

[EmeraldGuy32]

Catwoman = Huntress? maybe? anyway I'll get the first ish of Catwoman OYL, but I've really got no love for the character. Will is really impressing me on Captain Atom though..

[RAB]

"Safety?" It sounds like that answers the "one of these heroes will have a baby" question from WIZARD...

[bluebird]

Is Holly blonde? That would be my guess. Of course, Selina not being Catwoman is sort of a weird thing because, like some of these other characters like Nightwing, she's not really a "legacy" character. "Catwoman" is Selina Kyle in a cat costume, not someone like Superman or Batman who need to be there to keep the status quo, or Green Lantern who needs to be around cause the ring has to go one SOMEONE's finger.

Too smart to run for political office? Hmmm...I coulda swore she ran for mayor of New York or for NYC city council during Grayson/Balent's run on the last CATWOMAN ongoing, but I may be wrong...I read it out of order from 25 cent boxes...

[Kevin T. Brown]

Originally posted by EmeraldGuy32
Catwoman = Huntress? maybe? anyway I'll get the first ish of Catwoman OYL, but I've really got no love for the character. Will is really impressing me on Captain Atom though..

More like Catwoman = Huntress = Helena Wayne....

[Shadowcards]

I'm guessing baby Helena.

[beetle1million]

Guess for the new cast member = Patience Phillips. The lameass Halle Berry Catwoman.

That, or a Wildstorm character.

[TCJohnson]

Mia from Green Arrow is the new Catwoman and Aquaman is the new host for the Specter?

[Johan de Neef]

Selina Kyle becomes Helena Wayne (married with Bruce) as the new Batwoman?

[jeffcope]

Originally posted by MattBrady
I won't reveal it here, but I promise you'll learn the new name and the reason for it in issue #53, right off the bat.

Heh. Wonder if there's some hint in there...right off the "bat"...?

Jeff

[Drew Melbourne]

I think it's safe to say that Selina is retiring (temporarily?) because she's given birth to a baby, and that Holly is filling in or taking over.

Don't know if Slam is still in the picture, but I would bet on a Bat baby.

[astronato]

will she be taking the name Bertinelli? Could they be somehow melding the origins of the Earth 2 and current Huntress?

[ironfixer]

Holly becomes Catwoman because Selina has Bruce's baby. Bruce, becomes the new Spectre, so Dick becomes the new Batman, Jason becomes Nightwing, and Tim stays put.

[BlueThunderArmy]

New name OR new cast member:

Julie Newmar.

[BanMan]

What if that's Spoiler back from the dead?

I'm not sure how experienced Holly is but we know Stephanie has had both training AND experience in that shadowy underworld before.

[HailHydra]

my guess is Selina Falcone.

[HailHydra]

WP: Ha! No, but I know who the [Spectre] host is...I know very well who the new host is.

oh, and isn't aquaman the only other current DCU character pfeifer has written...?

[TCJohnson]

Originally posted by HailHydra
oh, and isn't aquaman the only other current DCU character pfeifer has written...?

Somebody reminded me he is also writing Captain Atom and Blood of the Demon...although I doubt it will be etrigan.

[Kolimar]

I started reading the replies and I swear it felt as if I was reading about a soap opera for a moment, with all the talk about babies and changes of name. Happily, it was only nightmarish daydreaming or something like that.

Seriously, interesting stuff.

[Drew Melbourne]

...and I would assume that Pfeiffer is writing the new SPECTRE series.

If you want to know who the new Spectre is, you should be reading GOTHAM CENTRAL.

[HailHydra]

Originally posted by TCJohnson
Somebody reminded me he is also writing Captain Atom and Blood of the Demon...although I doubt it will be etrigan.

yeah, highly doubtful with two etrigans in byrne's preview. and captain atom is no longer DCU.

[Uchiha_Prodigy]

Originally posted by Johan de Neef
Selina Kyle becomes Helena Wayne (married with Bruce) as the new Batwoman?

Holy crap, that's just what I was thinking.

[TCJohnson]

Originally posted by HailHydra
and captain atom is no longer DCU.

I think I read somewhere that he will be coming back to the DCU however.

[Trachman]

I'm thinking Batgirl gonna be the new Catwoman. Cassie could be considered inexperienced, but experience enough to take up the mantle. Oh, and blonde hair.