Arkham City: Why Catwoman Looks Like Audrey Hepburn

As the first screens of Batman: Arkham City one thing that struck me was Rocksteady’s depiction of Catwoman. It immediately reminded me of two things. One was the actress Audrey Hepburn, star of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. The second was one particular Catwoman artist who seems to have redefined how we think about the world’s greatest cat burgler.

The artist in question is one Adam Hughes, who to my mind is one of the most gifted comic artists around. His ability to create amazingly realistic looking characters that still maintain and fun, sometimes even irreverent, edge. After the dark turn the character inherited from Tim Burton’s incarnation of Catwoman and the horror of Halle Berry’s solo outing, Hughes started doing the covers to her comic.

During his cover only stint between 2005 and 2008 he managed to create some of the most iconic images of Catwoman ever seen. And his inspiration? “For the longest time I played around asking ‘Who is Selina Kyle, what is she like?’, Hughes told Girls Entertainment Network last year.

“And then I realized I really liked the 1950s and 1960s ‘To Catch a Thief’ lounge-apartment type of feel. And at one point I just went ‘That’s her!’ She is this kind of 1950s Audrey Hepburn kind of character with way too much eyebrow makeup and short black hair. And I went ‘Perfect! That is it!’ And from then on it wasn’t just about the face, but I had a great idea of who the character was.”

He’s also described her as having a little Elizabeth Taylor and Trinity from The Matrix in her too. Either way I think it’s pretty clear that it was his interpretation of Catwoman that has influenced Rocksteady in Batman: Arkham City. It will be interesting to see how some of the other new characters turn out.

You can check out more of Hughes’ art at www.justsayah.com