Because of satisfactory reception to Mindy Newell's 1988 Action Comics arc featuring Catwoman, "The Tin Roof Club", in February 1989, DC Comics released a four-issue Catwoman limited series penned by Newell, with art by Joe Brozowski and Michael Bair.

[1] DC launched Catwoman's first ongoing series in 1993, originally written by Jo Duffy, pencilled by Jim Balent, and inked by Dick Giordano.

[8][9] The series put the character on a new direction, moving away from grittiness towards flamboyance: her design was changed to consist of lengthy hair and a vibrant purple costume from her previous buzz cut and gray color palette established in Year One, and her stories consisted of action and extravagant heists in place of "grim realism".

[5] The series focused on Catwoman's adventures and heists, often international, with a revolving cast of characters, and also tied in to various comic crossover events, such as 1994's "Knightfall".

[10][11] Brubaker was offered to write Catwoman by editor Matt Idelson after Idelson asked him for his opinion on the series at the time, which Brubaker thought was "kind of insulting to women readers" after having read advance copies of the comic which featured Catwoman in "naked shower fights", mentioning that he preferred Catwoman in the 1960s and 1970s comics as well as in Batman: Year One, and suggested to Idelson to take the character back to her "East End roots" while incorporating the "classiness of the high-society thief".

[10] It differed from the previous series, being a "character-driven crime noir comic"[14] with interconnected story arcs, a permanent supporting cast, and a fixed setting,[13] as well as Catwoman being an antihero,[3] becoming the resident protector of the East End borough.

[14] In 2002, the series won its creators the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book for its depiction of a lesbian couple, Holly and her girlfriend, Karon.