Black Cat #13 // Review
“We’re making a lot of assumptions,” she says. “Maybe we won’t have to fight it at all? Maybe it comes in peace.” A roar cuts through the place the jars everything. There’s a moment of silence. Frank cocks his gun. They’re not exactly up against thugs...or even super villains. They’re up against an unreasonably large betentacled monster that’s plodded its way onto the beach. And they’re totally in over their heads inBlack Cat #13. Writer G. Willow Wilson carries an immensely entertaining series into the first issue of its second year with artist Andres Genolet and colorist Brian Reber.
There are a lot of options as to how they might actually be able to handle this sort of thing. However, Frank doesn't have access to his whole arsenal. Just a couple of guns. And he's wounded one to her. Gunfire isn't likely to do a whole lot. However, they have to try something. They're only weapon is a pair of guns. Maybe she'll figure out something. And maybe they just might get lucky. That's always possible too. After all, it's not like they're really done with each other either. There's going to be issues after talking about it they manage to survive.
Wilson is clearly having fun with the strangely volatile nature of the Marvel Universe. Weird things happen for weird reasons. And we are around somebody who has the ability to manipulate probability, that can get even more complicated. Pairing to people who wouldn't normally be hanging out together, but we're both on the same level is really interesting. There are a lot of silent moments in the issue. They may not last for very long. But there are a lot of really static beats that help to punctuate and already appealingly-paced issue. It’s great fun throughout.
Much of the issue is really just a conflict between Black Cat, the Punisher and a kaiju on a beach in New Jersey. There's a simplicity to the story that is brought to the page quite well. The sense of immensity can really be felt on the part of the creature. The total mismatch in power between the heroes and the threat is brought across on the page quite vividly. Reber catches the light of day on a beach in New Jersey quite well. The color work on the creature is quite impressive as well. Different textures and luminosities feel quite impressive on the creature.
Wilson manages that clever cross between legitimately appealing action and legitimately funny humor. It's so hard to find the right balance on that. So often this sort of thing comes across as a comedy that's trying to be an action story. Or an adventure piece that's trying way too hard to be funny. Wilson balances it perfectly. And the whole our team does a good job of following along and conjuring it to the page with the right sense of adventure. It all feels quite well rendered throughout.
