Hellcat #4 // Review
Patsy’s late boyfriend wasn’t exactly telling her everything. Usually, in any romantic relationship, there ARE things that go unspoken, but this was different. Evidently, before he died, Patsy’s boyfriend was “knee-deep in occult stuff.” Among other things, he was trying to build a gate for Blackheart--the son of the devil himself: Mephisto. Patsy continues her investigation in Hellcat #4. Writer Christopher Cantwell continues a really fun and witty occult mystery journey with artist Alex Lins. Color is conjured to the page by K. J. Díaz. Cantwell and company continue to find new life in characters that have been kind of forgotten over the years in a very entertaining occult mystery.
Patsy is in full costume knocking on Hedy’s door. The cops left. Evidently, they were in pursuit of a costumed vigilante they thought they killed until she got up and walked away. Patsy doesn’t know why she didn’t die either, but she’s not exactly disappointed that her death didn’t happen. It’s time for Patsy to come clean about investigating her ex-boyfriend. She needs more information. Only...maybe she isn’t going to get it from Hedy. Maybe she’s going to need to get it from...herself. Good thing she knows this guy named Sleepwalker…
Cantwell has a gift for dynamic, punchy dialogue. Nearly every character in the issue seems to have a great sense of wit and timing. This is kind of crucial as the occult/horror genre can be kind of a slog if the right tone isn’t perfectly hit. Some of the concepts that Cantwell is using seem to be pleasantly mutated by his inventiveness. This creates interesting little bits of drama. Patsy's been keeping things from other people, but she’s also been keeping things from herself. She’s probably got a good reason for doing so. The occult corner of Marvel can be a pretty dense and political place. Cantwell is exploring it on a social/emotional level that feels more cozy than it so often is.
There’s something irrepressibly cheerful about the Hellcat costume. To take the thing seriously, Lins and Díaz have this brilliant way of making Patsy look simultaneously cute AND permanently disheveled. Some people wake up looking good. Patsy comes back from the dead looking cute...and, of course, impossibly charming. The dramatic supernatural that Lins and Díaz are bringing to the page feels dark and inviting. It’s ugly. It’s messy. There are scratches and decay and stuff, but it all feels so comfortable and lived in. There’s a powerful appeal to that.
One issue. There’s one issue left to go in the series. Cantwell and company have just really gotten going on the series, and it’s over with Issue #5. The cleverly-crafted story is coming to an end, but Cantwell has found a really nice niche for Patsy that works so well with an area of the Marvel Universe that so rarely gets the right treatment. Hopefully, everything wraps up with a clear conclusion for the next issue. If all goes well, it would be cool to see Cantwell and Lins have another adventure with Patsy.
