Black Cat #5 // Review
When engaging in illegal activity, it’s very important to anticipate what might go wrong. Carefully planning for a variety of possible obstacles is absolutely essential for a thief. One of the most notorious thieves in the Marvel Universe finds herself faced with a series of obstacles she had nor anticipated in Black Cat #5. Writer Jed Mackay continues a gracefully savvy cartwheel through a crazy adventure with master thief Felicia Hardy and her cohorts in a story drawn by Travel Foreman. Foreman’s viscerally classy art isn’t perfectly matched with the weird pulpy Kirby-Esque dangers lurking around the edges of this particular issue, but his ability to capture Felicia’s emotional somersaults in and amidst the action is great fun in another thoroughly enjoyable issue.
Black Cat has gone into the Fantastic Four's headquarters in the interest of stealing a book written by none other than the father of the legendary hero Iron Fist. It would have been simple had it not been for the fact that extra-dimensional badass Blastaar climbed through a gate to the Negative Zone that Mr. Fantastic had left lying around. Now Black Cat and her two accomplices are forced to become heroes as they aid Johnny Storm in defeating the invading monster from another dimension.
MacKay’s writing style serves-up a chaotic mix of plot elements which all tumble together in a dizzying, little flourish. Black Cat is forced to deal with the dangerous present amidst issues from her past which have suddenly presented themselves in a place she really had no business being in the first place. It would have been all too easy to keep the various elements of Black Cat’s life separate and dealt with in a series of individual scenes. MacKay rolls every element of Felicia’s life into a crazy mix that keeps it all deeply enjoyable.
Foreman’s art is a perfect fit for Black Cat on a subtle, oddly metaphorical level. His linework has a very distinctive quality about it that’s almost counterintuitive. Ink squiggles and curves when it could glide and slide across the page. The lines clearly aren’t doing what the eye expects them to do, but they get where they’re going with the stylishly elegant intention imperfection. It’s a style that matches Felicia’s personality perfectly. It’s not a perfect match for some of the Kirby-originated trappings of the Fantastic Four word that Black Cat is engaging with here. The thick, bold expanses of ink that Kirby used in creating the visual vocabulary f the F.F. Feels a bit awkward coming out of the strange grace of Foreman’s work. Nevertheless, the art continues to render a very classy roguishness into the world of the Black Cat for another issue.
The series continues a thoroughly enjoyable pounce through its first major plot arc with clever work by MacKay and Foreman on an enjoyable climb around the edges of the familiar. It’s a smarty unique look at the Marvel Universe fro the shadows with an appealing character who would appear right at home around the edges of almost any Marvel panel.
