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There have been many versions of Catwoman's origins and backstory seen in the comic books over the decades.
Golden and Silver Age versions
In Batman ..62, it was revealed that Catwoman (after a blow to the head jogged her memory) was an amnesiac flight attendant who had turned to crime after suffering a prior blow to the head during a plane crash she survived. She wound up reforming and stayed on the straight and narrow for several years, helping out Batman in Batman ..65 and ..69, until Selina decided to return to a life of crime in Detective Comics ..203. Selina appeared again as a criminal in Batman ..84 and Detective Comics ..211, her final appearance for many years (until 1966).
In the 1970s comics, a series of stories taking place on Earth-Two (the parallel Earth that was retroactively declared as the home of DC's Golden Age characters) revealed that on that world, Selina reformed in the 1950s (presumably after the events of Batman ..69) and had married Bruce Wayne; soon afterwards, the couple gave birth to their only child, Helena Wayne (the Huntress). In Brave and the Bold ..197, the Golden Age origin of Catwoman given in Batman ..62 was elaborated on, after Selina revealed that she never actually had amnesia. It was revealed that Selina Kyle had been the wife of an abusive man, and eventually decided to leave her husband. However, her husband had kept her jewelry in his private vault, and she had to break into it to retrieve the jewelry. Selina enjoyed this experience so much she decided to become a professional costumed cat burglar, and thus began a career that would repeatedly lead to her encountering the Batman.
The Earth-Two/Golden Age Selena Kyle eventually died in the late 1970s after being blackmailed by a criminal into going into action again as Catwoman (as shown in DC Super-Stars ..17).
Catwoman's first Silver Age appearance was in Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane ..70 (November 1966); afterwards, she continued to make appearances across the various Batman comics.
Several stories in the 1970s featured Catwoman committing murder, something that neither the Earth-One or Earth-Two versions of her would ever do; this version of Catwoman was assigned to the alternate world of Earth-B, an alternate Earth that included stories that couldn't be considered canonical on Earth-One or Earth-Two.
Modern Age version
Cover to Catwoman ..1, her first miniseries. Art by J. J. Birch.A revision in Catwoman's origin, and the introduction of the modern version of her, came in 1986 when writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli produced Batman: Year One, a revision of Batman’s origin. In the course of the story, the origin of Catwoman was also re-envisioned, as a 5'7" Selina Kyle was reintroduced as a cat-loving prostitute/dominatrix who was inspired to become a costumed cat burglar when she saw Batman in action.
This origin was expanded on in the 1989 Catwoman limited series (collected in trade paperback form as Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper) by writer Mindy Newell and artist JJ Birch. This series showed how Catwoman’s early career was tinged with tragedy as her former pimp Stan abducts Selina's sister Maggie and violently abuses her. This led Selina to kill Stan, leaving Selina in an unbalanced mental state.
Further, Batman: Dark Victory, the sequel to The Long Halloween, implied that Catwoman suspected she was the long-lost illegitimate daughter of Carmine Falcone, although she says that she found no definitive proof of this.
It is currently unclear how much of these stories remain canonical to Catwoman’s current origin, as various stories and editors' statements over the years since then have stated that Selina was never a prostitute and that other events depicted in those stories never happened. However, characters introduced in these stories (such as Selina’s young friend Hollie from Batman: Year One and her sister Maggie from the 1989 miniseries) continue to appear regularly in the Catwoman series, and aspects of those plots are occasionally referenced, including recent issues that show Hollie remembering her days as a prostitute with Catwoman.
Cover to Catwoman (v1) ..1, the first issue of her original ongoing series. Art by Jim Balent.In 1993, following the success of Batman Returns and Selina Kyle’s prominent role in that film, Catwoman was given her first ongoing series. This series, written by an assortment of writers but primarily penciled by Jim Balent, generally depicted the character as an international thief with an ambiguous moral code.
Storylines included her adoption of a teenage runaway named Arizona, whom she briefly took on as a sidekick; aiding the criminal Bane, followed by helping Azrael to defeat him; and Selina Kyle as a reluctant government operative. The series also fleshed out more of her origin, revealing her beginnings as an underage thief, her difficult period in juvenile incarceration, and the training she received from superhero Ted (Wildcat) Grant).
As the series neared its end, Selina moved to New York and through blackmail became first corporate vice president, then CEO of Randolf Industries, a mafia-influenced company. She intended to use this position to run for mayor. However, her plans were ruined when the supervillain the Trickster inadvertently connected Kyle to her Catwoman alter ego.
Cover to Catwoman (v2) ..1, the first issue of her new ongoing series. Art by Darwyn Cooke.Selina then returned to Gotham, which at this time was in the midst of the No Man's Land storyline. As Catwoman, Kyle assisted Batman against Lex Luthor in the reconstruction of the city. However immediately following that, she was arrested by Commissioner Gordon and put on trial, followed by being sentenced to imprisonment. While in prison she escaped, and under the influence of Dr. Harleen Quinzel (the supervillain Harley Quinn), became mentally unbalanced.
When later that year during the Officer Down storyline in the Batman titles, Catwoman was initially the chief suspect. Although later cleared, she displayed increasingly erratic behaviour throughout the story. Soon afterwards she disappeared and was thought killed by the assassin Deathstroke the Terminator, ending her series at ..94.
Catwoman then appeared in a series of backup stories in Detective Comics ..759 to ..762. In a backup storyline Trail of the Catwoman, by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke, the reader followed private detective Slam Bradley's attempts to find out what really happened to Selina Kyle.
This storyline led in to the newest Catwoman series in late 2001 (written by Brubaker initially with Cooke, later joined by artist Cameron Stewart). In this series, Selina Kyle, joined by new supporting cast members Holly and Slam Bradley (a character from the early Golden Age DC Comics), became protector of the residents of Gotham’s East End, while still carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar. This series met with critical and fan acclaim, especially for its first 25 issues.
During the Hush storyline in Batman ..608-..619, Batman and Catwoman briefly worked together and had a short affair, during the course of which Batman revealed his true identity to her. At the end Catwoman broke off their relationship when Batman believed that it had been influenced by the villain Hush.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Recently in the JLA story arc Crisis of Conscience, Catwoman further proved herself an ally when she fought alongside Batman and the League against the old Secret Society, of which she had once briefly been a member. Wounded, she was taken to the Batcave to recover. When Despero and a faction of brainwashed League members infiltrated the cave and succeeded in brainwashing Batman, Catwoman was able to send a distress call out to the unaffected League members. After a fierce struggle, Despero was subdued. However, this was something of a hollow victory, since all recognized that Despero was able to pit the JLA members against one another by drawing upon pre-existing animosities and distrust. In response to Batman's inquiry about her wounds, Selina departed the batcave after curtly informing Batman that he had already "done enough."
Cover to Catwoman ..50. Art by Adam Hughes.Catwoman has appeared to be completely reformed, and her love for Batman profound and true (although her brash personality made her unpredictable even in her sentimental life). However, it is now unclear if her reformation was the result of a mindwipe by Zatanna, a procedure known to deeply affect and, in at least one case, physically incapacitate its victims. Selina had no inkling that any villains had been mindwiped until Batman informed her of the events of Identity Crisis, and he now worries that she has not reformed by choice but due to mental manipulation. (JLA ..119)
At the start of the recent storyline ("The One You Love"), an influx of supervillains exerted control of the East End, leaving Selina with no choice but to join the new incarnation of the Secret Society. While her initial intentions were unclear, Selina recently shared her plans to infiltrate and destroy the cadre of East End villains to a concerned Batman. Facing impossible odds, Selina's cover was blown and she was ambushed by several supervillains, cornered in an alley and grieviously wounded. (Catwoman ..47-..48) It is later revealed that it was not Selina herself who was wounded and dismembered by the villains, but rather the shape-shifter whom she inadvertently released from captivity at the start of this story arc, (who agreed to help her in exchange for his freedom). Capitalizing upon the advantage which her "resurrection" provided her, Catwoman dismantled the new East End cadre of criminals, one villain at time. However, at the close of the issue Zatanna appeared at her side, informing Selina that she had some "bad news", hinting at an important revelation about her past.
