REVIEW: ‘Black Cat,’ Issue #1

Black Cat #1 is written by Jed MacKay, illustrated by C.F. Villa, colored by Brian Reber, and lettered by Ferran Delgado. It is published by Marvel Comics. During the events of King in Black #1, Felicia Hardy–aka the Black Cat–attempts to pull off a heist only to be interrupted by Knull’s invasion. After the heroes of the Marvel Universe are defeated by Knull, Felicia resolves to pull a surprising heist on the dark deity.

This issue comes on the heels of a previous Black Cat series, as well as tying into a massive comic book crossover event. Like its titular character, it manages to handle these plot threads with a surprising amount of ease, weaving in and out of the events of King in Black #1 while also introducing new readers to its heroine. All you really need to know about Felicia Hardy is that she’s a skilled thief and she always succeeds. And this book manages to perfectly convey that.

A large part of that is due to MacKay’s scripting, which places the reader in Felicia’s head. They’ll learn about how she approaches her heists. They’ll learn what she thinks of her fellow heroes, particularly Captain America—a man who couldn’t be any more different from her. And they’ll also see that the advent of a malevolent god isn’t enough to deter her from pulling off a crazy heist. Felicia’s inner monologue also contains humorous bits of dialogue which help ease the tension. For instance, she refers to Doctor Strange as “Earth’s Mightiest Merlin” and when her crew uses the Spider-Mobile for the heist in the beginning she defends her actions with “He wasn’t using it!” Three guesses as to who she’s referring to.

Villa’s artwork is extremely fluid, as characters move from one panel to the next with superhuman grace. He also makes Felicia’s signature catsuit a bit more practical, with a utility belt and grappling hook. Knull’s symbiote dragons look absolutely terrifying, as Villa draws them with a wingspan that blocks out the sky. The God of the Symbiotes himself is featured briefly, his flowing white hair and inhuman smirk bearing more than a passing resemblance to Final Fantasy VII antagonist Sepiroth. Villa also manages to perfectly recap the events of King in Black #1 in a single page, which is no mean feat for any artist.

Rounding out the artistic team is Reber on colors. Reber sticks to the same red skies and heavy use of shadows that defined King in Black #1, adding to the apocalyptic vibes of the event. Felicia’s bright green eyes and silver hair stand in sharp contrast to her black catsuit and help her stand out from the symbiote dragons. Other standout characters include Captain America with his patriotic-hued suit and Doctor Strange, whose spells radiate a bright green energy.

Black Cat #1 successfully highlights its titular character and her skills while also tying into the events of King in Black. Whether you are reading King in Black or not, I highly suggest you check out this book-especially if you’re a Spider-Man fan or like heist films such as Ocean’s Eleven.

Black Cat #1 is available wherever comics are sold.