Black Cat #2 // Review
The Cat has a pet dog. The dog’s dead, and she’s after a god. It’s an alien god. The only way to go after an alien god is with alien goo. So she’s getting a new suit. It sounds weird, but it’s actually weirdly cool as writer Jed MacKay dances through another perilous parade of panels with Felicia Hardy in Black Cat #2. The King In Black crossover continues courtesy of another enjoyable series of pages brought to life by artist C.F. Villa. Once again, MacKay shows considerable talent for finding a stylish way to bring out the clever corners of the Marvel Universe.
Felicia Hardy has been called-on to do a little bit of heroing. It’s perfectly fine. It’s nothing she hasn’t been called on to do in the past. She’s a thief, but she CAN improvise. She’s stolen from Dr. Strange before. Now she’s got to steal Dr. Strange from a dark alien god. She’s immersing herself in strange alien good in order to do so. What could possibly go wrong? In the recent past, she had some success with a nanoforge Iron Man suit she’d stolen from Tony Stark. How different could it be to employ weird biotech originating from another planet?
Once again, MacKay shows an impressive flair for picking-up casual cast-offs from the Marvel Universe and fusing them together into a fun adventure. Little details make the story so much more fun...like the fact that she’s hanging out with Dr. Strange’s ghost dog, and she launches herself into the action with a (likely rickety) old Green Goblin bat glider. MacKay has an irreverent sense of improvisation, which engages the Marvel Universe from so many different directions. At the heart of the story, MacKay is working with a pretty standard super-hero adventure story, but he brings it to the page with such a cleverly refreshing approach.
MacKay is allowing Villa plenty of room to explore the playfully acrobatic style of Black Cat this issue as she tumbles about in pursuit of her objective. Villa nails the carefree exhilaration of a beautiful action hero who is definitely taking the time to enjoy what she’s doing. It’s an important responsibility that she’s being given, but she’s definitely approaching it with the kind of swashbuckling flair that makes for the best type of action. The fact that she’s not some kind of god makes it all the more exciting. She’s not invulnerable. She’s just crazy enough to know what she can do. Villa brings that appealing insanity to the page with irresistible appeal.
MacKay’s adventures with Felicia continue to be some of the best stuff Marvel is contributing to the comics rack. There’s so much potential with a character who delights in flitting from one end of the Marvel Universe to another, occasionally deciding to do something heroic like she’s doing in the second issue of her new series. MacKay might not always be able to nail something quite this fun, but it’ll be interesting to see him try in the future.
