Warning: Spoilers for Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #4!
For one night only, the Batman becomes a cat-man as Batman Beyond adopts a whole new animal form. Typically, a Batman in any form is a dog person, as both Terry and Bruce raised Ace the Bat-Hound while Bruce also had another dog named Titus. The closest thing to a “cat person” that the Bat-Family has is Damian Wayne — thanks to his cat, named Alfred, gifted to him by Mr. Pennyworth — but that just changed in a big way.
Momentarily at least, Terry McGinnis literally becomes a cat-person in Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #4 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Max Dunbar, Rain Beredo, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. The Batman Beyond is sucked into a nightmare world designed by the Batman Beneath that challenges both himself and his cat magician of a sidekick, Kyle the Catboi.
After first experiencing a brutal nightmare of his own, Terry falls into the nightmare of his sidekick, one that reveals the origin story of how Kyle came to learn magic from John Constantine. As Terry’s memories descend into Kyle’s, he inadvertently becomes a cat to fit into the setting. He’s not a talking cat, so Terry can only communicate in meows, but he communicates to the reader through his thought bubbles.
Batman Beyond Becomes a Cat-Man Beyond
On top of just making for a cute transformation, some readers may find it an apropos one given the history between Terry’s late mentor Bruce Wayne and the original Catwoman. That said, the transformation and Terry’s connection to Kyle the Catboi runs even deeper than that, as this origin flashback reveals that his sidekick’s full name is Kyle Selinas_450. Of course, Catwoman’s real name is Selina Kyle, so perhaps this is hinting at a deeper connection between Kyle and Selina as well.
That connection isn’t completely clear for the time being, but it’s possible that there will be a further revelation waiting later in the series — maybe one presenting Kyle as a cat that once belonged to Catwoman. Whatever the case, both Terry’s brief transformation and Kyle’s history highlight an often-overlooked history of cats within Batman lore. Catwoman’s role within that lore helps accentuate the presence of cats, but this transformation and history make that cat presence feel all the more important.
This is especially the case in the lore of Batman Beyond, where what is old always has the possibility of becoming new again. As prevalent as a role that Catwoman played in Batman’s life, Kyle is slowly becoming just as prevalent in the life of the Batman Beyond — so much so that it ends up turning Terry into a cat.
