Black Cat #7 // Review
Everything seems like it’s going well for Felicia as she wakes-up. She’s had a good night’s sleep. She’s cuddling-up with a Jeff the Landshark plushy in a nice, cozy bed. There’s even a pigeon singing to her on the windowsill. Then there’s the notification on her phone. And another. And well...if there’s something about her online, she really SHOULD know better than to check the comments section. She does anyway. She knows that people don’t like her. That never bothered her before...but she’s beginning to care about a lot of things that she might not have cared about before as becomes apparent in Black Cat #7. The endlessly entertaining G. Willow Wilson writes the opening of another adventure featuring that art of Gleb Melnikov. Color comes to the page courtesy of Brian Reber.
It’s not just her own reputation that she’s worried about, though she’s not all that aware of what it is until she’s accosted by Venom...who happens to be being worn by Mary Jane Watson at the time. Evidently there’s a video of her that might be embarrassing and detrimental to her career if it ever got out. That video is in a storage facility. In a super high-secure of the art facility. In the Negative Zone. So it’s not like she’s going to have an easy time getting it, but she IS going to have the aid of one Mary Jane Watson...who has been fused with. an alien symbiote. So what could possibly go wrong?
Wilson’s writing style glitters brilliant in a lightly comic adventure that gracefully bears the weight of some deeper drama around the edges. With Poison Ivy over at DC, there’s a great deal of clever craftsmanship in delivering a very complex and dramatic picture of a villain looking to be a hero. THAT series has become very, very weighty in the darkly dramatic end of the spectrum. It’s satisfying to see Wilson balance that out with a fun and irreverent light bit of adventure comedy. Wilson’s a very sharp wit. He dialogue is some of the best in mainstream comics. It’s deeply enjoyable to see that wit bent in the direction of a conversation between Felicia and M.J. as they look into trying to pull a heist in the Negative Zone of all places. Wilson also allows herself some time to play with some very sophisticated insight into aspects of the Marvel Universe around the edges of the narrative as well.
Melnikov amplify a motion on the faces of the two central characters without over exaggerating anything. As a result, the emotions feel very real even if it's clear that the framing of those emotions might be ever social slightly less than realistic. Overall, there's a very strong sense of atmosphere that hits the page. And above all Felicia comes across as being very, very rich and complicated as a person. There's some very clever work being done in her characterization that goes well beyond just the dialogue. She's carrying herself with a mixture of confidence and uncertainty. She's entering new territory in her life and it's really interesting to see.
Once again, after the latest issue of Black Cat, it's hard not to hope that Wilson has every intention of going in for the long haul with this particular title the way she has with Poison Ivy over at D.C. this is a perfect companion title to that. And it's nice to see Wilson spending some time in both universes. She is deeply enjoyable writer who has a firm grasp of the heart of both of DC and Marvel universes.
