Year One Holly first appeared in
Batman: Year One as a juvenile
prostitute who lives with Selina Kyle. Holly plays a small but significant role in the story when she encounters a disguised
Bruce Wayne during one of his early attempts at crimefighting and stabs him in the leg even though he'd saved her from her
pimp. Wounded by this attack and a subsequent battle, Wayne escapes back to his home, brooding on the fact that his enemies do not fear him. This encounter is an impetus for his creation of the
Batman persona. As such, Holly plays an indirect role in the Dark Knight's origin. Holly also appeared in the 1989
Catwoman mini-series by
Mindy Newell and J.J Birch (collected in trade paperback as ''Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper''), which retold Catwoman's origin based on Miller's take on the character in
Batman: Year One. In this story, Catwoman leaves Holly at a convent where Selina's sister Maggie is a nun.
Death and return In 1988, Holly appeared in "The Tin Roof Club", from
Action Comics Weekly #611–614. In this story, she has married a successful businessman who is actually a mobster. Her new husband has Holly killed in his quest to reclaim a valuable piece of jewelry that Catwoman stole from one of his safehouses. Unable to link Holly's death to her husband in order for him to be arrested for the crime, Catwoman kills two corrupt security guards in his employment and frames Holly's husband for their murders. Holly's death was overturned years later when writer
Ed Brubaker ignored "The Tin Roof Club" storyline to incorporate Holly into the cast of the 2002
Catwoman series. Brubaker admitted in an interview that he had not been aware of Holly's death until after he had reintroduced the character. He addressed this issue in
Catwoman Secret Files and Origins #1 with a two-page story titled "Why Holly Isn't Dead", in which the
fourth wall is broken as Holly contemplates her own resurrection. It is implied that Holly's death was erased from continuity following
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!. As established by Brubaker, Holly had run away from a bad home as a child, ending up on the streets. She and Selina had met when Selina rescued Holly from a cop who was trying to extort her. When Selina became Catwoman, she left Holly behind. Holly had joined Selina's sister, Maggie, at her convent. She never felt entirely a part of that world, and a few years afterwards she left the convent with Maggie. After she and Maggie lost track of each other, Holly became addicted to drugs and returned to the streets. In this revision of Holly's history, the events of "The Tin Roof Club" never occurred.
Catwoman (volume 3) Holly reappeared in
Catwoman (vol. 3) #1. After a series of brutal murders of working girls, Holly returns to the apartment that she and Selina had shared in "
Year One", and finding that Selina has returned, is happily reunited with her friend. Holly cleans up her act and becomes a sidekick of sorts to Catwoman. She pretends to be part of the street life when in actuality, she is working as Selina's eyes and ears, ferreting out what is happening on the streets of the East End. While on the job, Holly is troubled by the fact that she still views the world from the mindset of a junkie, even though she managed to quit drugs several months before reuniting with Selina. It is also revealed that Holly is a
lesbian. In the "Relentless" story arc,
Black Mask attempts to destroy Catwoman's life with the help of Sylvia, a childhood friend of Selina's who has a grudge against her. Holly is reunited with her friend Maggie Kyle, but Maggie is kidnapped and tormented by Black Mask. Holly is also beaten and kidnapped, and eventually Holly kills Sylvia to save Selina's life. Holly is severely traumatized by these events and isolates herself for a time. She steals some of Maggie's painkillers, but does not take any of the drugs, and heals to some degree when she reconnects with Selina. Selina decides that Holly needs some time away from Gotham to heal after the events of "Relentless", and the two embark on a road trip in
Catwoman (vol. 3) #20–24 (collected in trade paperback as
Catwoman: Wild Ride). Selina arranges for Holly to be trained by Ted Grant (
Wildcat). They then travel through several cities before ending up in
St. Roch, where it is revealed that Selina and
Slam Bradley have located her brother Davey. She finds him working at a bar and learns that he had also run away, and had traveled around the world. Later in the series, Holly becomes a den mother to a group of street kids known as the Alleytown Gang, who act as informants for Catwoman.
The new Catwoman After the events of
Infinite Crisis, DC Comics jumped forward in time. In the "
One Year Later" storyline, Holly Robinson has taken over as the new Catwoman at the request of Selina Kyle, who has decided to retire from the role after becoming pregnant. In
Catwoman (vol. 3) #53, Holly Robinson makes her first appearance as Catwoman; at the close of the issue she is ambushed by
Angle Man. Although Holly escapes, she is caught on film administering a brutal beating to Angle Man. Reluctant to ask Selina for help, Holly turns instead to Ted Grant. Holly is arrested and takes the blame for the murder of
Black Mask (Selina had actually committed the crime). She is rescued from jail by Selina and takes a short break from being Catwoman. While Selina is getting Holly's name erased from the police database, Holly again suits up as Catwoman to stop a new villainess named Blitzkrieg from executing a young girl on a live video-feed to the internet. Holly manages to save the girl, but not before she is unmasked on the live
web feed. After the rescue, Holly runs into Detective Lenahan, a Gotham cop who has become fixated on capturing Catwoman. They are confronted by Hammer and Sickle, who want Selina dead, and are perfectly willing to dispose of Holly in the meantime. Lenahan is killed by the Russian supervillains, but Selina arrives in time to save Holly. The police assume that Holly and Catwoman are responsible for Lenahan's death after finding the two women next to his corpse in
Catwoman (vol. 3) #67. Holly and Selina manage to escape from the GCPD and defeat Hammer and Sickle. Despite this, Holly is now wanted for Lenahan's murder and her identity as Catwoman is public knowledge. She exits the series in
Catwoman (vol. 3) #69 and begins a new life as a fugitive.
Countdown Holly first appears in
Countdown #47; she rescues an elderly homeless man, moving him away from debris falling from a destroyed building. Homeless herself and on the run for the murder of Black Mask, she is offered a place to stay by a mysterious woman wearing a stola or chiton who goes by the name Athena. Holly accepts the offer to stay at an Athenian Women's Shelter, which houses battered and abused women. One of the residents is a reformed
Harley Quinn. After some time at the women's shelter, it eventually becomes apparent that Athena, running the shelter, is in fact the nefarious
Granny Goodness who takes to training these women - Holly and Harley among them - to be her new
Female Furies. After they are brought to an island for training, Holly and Harley meet the Amazon queen Hippolyta, and encounter
Mary Marvel. The group reveal Granny's deception. Holly, Harley and Mary follow Granny Goodness as she retreats to
Apokolips. With Mary's help, the group manages to free the Greek gods, and Holly is granted the powers of
Diana (Goddess of the Hunt) as a reward and displays both archery skills and feral, cat-like physical enhancements. After returning to Earth, Holly loses these powers. After witnessing the "Great Disaster" on Earth-51, she returns to Gotham City alongside Jason Todd and Harley, with whom she leaves at the end of the series. In the first issue of the series
Gotham City Sirens, it is mentioned that Holly no longer lives with
Harley Quinn, and has decided to begin a new life elsewhere with money she received after helping Selina steal
Tommy Elliot's fortune.
DC Rebirth In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "
DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "
The New 52". Holly is a former
child prostitute who was trained in the martial arts by Selina as a way of keeping her safe. When a terrorist cell from
Kahndaq bombs the orphanage Holly grew up in, she uses her training to hunt down and murder each member of the group. Holly ends up killing 237 terrorists, after which Selina chooses to take the fall for her crimes in order to protect her. Batman uncovers this, but Holly attacks him and manages to flee the country before he can take her into custody. She assumes the alias
Catherine Ann Turley in this universe. ==Skills, resources and abilities==