Judd Winick sits down with IGN Comics to discuss his release of Catwoman this  week:

IGN Comics: Who is Catwoman to you? What role does she play in the life of Bruce Wayne and Gotham City?

Judd Winick: Catwoman is addicted to danger. She’s a leap-before-you-look sort of person. She’s someone who has a dark and mysterious past that has made her into what she is. She’s pretty brilliant, which is both a help and a hindrance. The help: it’s made her a really excellent thief. Being a great criminal is not unlike being a detective. You gotta do your due diligence. You gotta do your leg work, your intel, talk to your insiders, know your moves, make a plan and execute it. Much of this story will have a low-tech Ocean’S 11 feel. It’s about the job — the caper. The hindrance for Selina being this smart? She’s so good at what she does, that very little has been able to stop her.

And Bruce Wayne/Batman is an addiction as well. Nothing could be dumber for a thief than to be “pursuing” Batman. But she just can’t help herself. Gotham is place of wealth, power and dirt. Catwoman does very well with all three of those descriptors.

IGN: Catwoman has always been defined by her ability to straddle the line between hero, anti-hero, and villain. Where does she fall in this series? Is she a little of all three?

Winick: No, she’s criminal. She steals things. She steals things for the sake of stealing. Not so she can amass a fortune and retire. She loves, “the process.” But, she’s got a moral center. She’s NOT a villain. She’s not out to hurt people. And when she comes across folks who seek to do harm, she won’t walk away from that. And, she doesn’t have to toe the line the way “heroes” do when she doles out her punishment. I’d call her a “criminal bad ass.”

IGN: Do Bruce and Selina have a history here, or are we going to witness their relationship develop?

Winick: Yes and yes.

For the full interview click here…