Advanced Review: The Black Cat is Back and She Has a Bone to Pick in Black Cat #1

Felicia Hardy may have her hands full, but she’s always having a good time in the new and improved Black Cat #1 by Jed McKay, C.F Villa, Brian Reber and Ferran Delgado.

Zoe: Hello! Black Cat is back, after months of absence, and connoisseurs of fine comic books and thirsty queer women are rejoicing appropriately. Unlike the last volume, however, two ladies who are Very Much Both will yell about it here on Xavier Files. [Ed. note: I am clapping from the sidelines, I hope you can hear me]

Allison: I have missed our girl so much. I’ve felt that certain je nais se quois without a Felicia comic on my reading schedule now that we’ve had this hiatus between issues that morphed into a new run. And she is back in style!

ZT: When we last left Felicia, she had just completed a whole string of wild heists ranging from stealing the deed to Manhattan to sensitive info from Stark Industries HQ, all with her trademark stylish flair. Along the way she, of course, made more than a few enemies, including current head of the Thieves’ Guild, and potential enemies-to-lovers ship just waiting to come home, Odessa Drake. We pick up in Black Cat #1 with Felicia in her element: boosting fat stacks of cash from abandoned SHIELD vaults.

The Queen Behind the Throne

ZT: Okay, we need to address the slimy, toothsome elephant in the room: Black Cat #1 is a King in Black tie-in. I was initially hesitant about this upon announcement because I am not a big fan of the current Goopy Corner of Marvel comics. I gotta say, this debut defies expectations both as a #1 and event tie-in. Without going too far into detail, the events of King in Black #1 are a large part of this issue and manage to be far more effective and harrowing here than they were in the event itself. Hell of a flex to pull off mid-event.

AS: Yeah, I was worried about that aspect of the re-launch as well, but I think MacKay and Co pulled it off about as winningly as you can. For all that we’ve both spent the last couple of months making sure folks caught up on the previous run, this works surprisingly well as a jumping-on point for Felicia, especially if your draw is its launching out of King in Black, and you don’t want to go back. You should, but new readers don’t have to.

ZT: You REALLY should go back and read the first volume. It is easily one of the best books Marvel has done in the past couple of years and a much-needed rebuild for Felicia as a character. You’re right, though, in that this issue works as the oft-hyped jumping on point for new readers about as well as you could hope. Y’all have NO EXCUSE not to read this book now.

The Cat Came Back

AS: The whole creative team manages to really nicely sum up who Felicia is here too, which is a lovely thing to be able to pull off with everything else going on. Event tie-ins sometimes aren’t the best place for character beats. Villa and Reber absolutely nail her facial expressions and body language. I was giddy when I saw that Villa was the new main artist. I loved everyone who contributed to the first run, but his style is *chef kiss* perfect for this title.

ZT: God, Villa just kills it on this issue. He is just the perfect combo of kinetic action and personable character-work for this title. The secret weapon of Felicia’s many looks has been her between-mission hang out vibes, and god does that make a wonderful return in this issue. Between the work being done in the X-Books and Guardians of the Galaxy, it is an excellent time to be a fan of hot casual superheroes. Even beyond the art, MacKay’s grasp of Felicia’s particular cynical-yet-hilarious voice is as strong as ever and shows up in a shockingly pointed way.

AS: I was not expecting to get such biting criticism of America’s expansionism and carceral state in a throwaway line in a Black Cat comic, but here we are. It makes sense from Felicia’s point-of-view. In a way, she’s exactly the kind of antihero people should be clamoring for in Big 2 comics nowadays. Felicia definitely says “%$#& cops” and burn the system down. I do love that she always gets a dig in at whichever man happens to be guest-starring but follows it up with a “well, if I have to look at something”-type comment. A fun throughline in the series.

ZT: Oh, how I long for the day we get Elektra or some lady co-starring, and Felicia gets to go “daaaaaamn” over their ass.

AS: YES! She’s very cavalier towards men, so I’d love it if we could get some of that action.

ZT: Hopefully, we get pay-off on the lingering “FELICIA IS QUEER AS HELL” subplot from the first volume.

AS: There are TWO of them that could fire, which is even better, ha.

ZT: Please, God and Jed MacKay, give us this. To go back to your previous point about Felicia being a very timely type of anti-hero, it makes the issue’s status as a KiB tie-in even more hilarious. Venom is the walking poster boy for the ubiquitous angsty, railing-against-Society school of anti-hero. To have Felicia call out specific wrongs, especially ones as undersung as the theft of Native lands by America throughout history, makes Brock’s school of vague injustice look downright quaint.

The World Outside Your Window

AS: The solicit text for this promised a lot of appearances from around the Marvel Universe, but really the whole series thus far (speaking on the last run) has been a Marvel Universe Greatest Hits album in a really delightful way, so no surprise this aspect of it being an event tie-in totally delivers. Felicia isn’t knocking off any of the big names here, but she is interacting with them, and it makes me appreciate just how deep the ties in the MU can be.

ZT: The previous volume’s use of the MU as a setting is one of its greatest strengths for me. With heists ranging from busting into the Baxter Building or stealing notes from an Immortal Iron Fist deep cut, and guest-stars running the gamut from Doctor Strange to Dracula, it treated the universe as a playground. It grounded everything through Felicia’s wry point of view. I really shouldn’t have been surprised to see how well this new #1 incorporated a crossover event into it’s run, now that I think about it.

AS: There is a big moment for the event in this issue, and it’s a pitch-perfect follow-up to some other threads and makes so much sense for this book now that we’ve read it. I’m always a little wary of event tie-ins where there’s a team doing some small potatoes side job, but between this and the X of Swords Hellions tie-in, I’m like maybe I should reconsider. And it’s also decidedly not small potatoes. Such a good goddamn hook.

ZT: I am such a huge sucker for stories where just about the last person you expect suddenly has the fate of the world on their shoulders, and BOY, does that itch get scratched here. Luckily, MacKay is MacKay and knows that Felicia will never be the big shiny superhero, and if she is saving the day, well, something is getting stolen. I am so excited to see where this goes, and am even more excited to see where this leaves Felicia post-KiB.

AS: Definitely don’t skip that teaser at the end. Wink wink.

ZT: I feel THOROUGHLY TEASED.