The Dark Side of the Black Cat

Amazing Spider-Man #194: 
the Black Cat's first appearance (1979)

I've always felt that Spider-Man's Black Cat was a rip-off of Batman's Catwoman.  Arguably, Spider-Man and Batman are Marvel's and DC Comics' most popular superheroes, respectively, and sell the most comics for an individual character.  That's why there are nineteen Batman titles and The Amazing Spider-Man is published sixteen times per month.  I exaggerate, but you get my point.  Anywho, it only felt natural that Marvel give Spidey a flirtatious good girl/bad girl character, too.  Hence, the Black Cat.  While I didn't mind the Black Cat, I never thought of her as anything but a two-dimensional Catwoman clone.

I read the latest Black Cat mini-series and thought it was pretty crappy (see my review).  In doing a little background work for my review, that's when I discovered that Black Cat had another mini-series back in 2002/2005*, written by writer/director/actor Kevin Smith.  The official title of the six-issue limited series is Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do, but it's primarily a story about Black Cat with Spider-Man's name thrown in there for sales purposes. 

*Apparently, Mr. Smith couldn't finish the story in 2002.  Issues 1-3 were published in 2002 and issues 4-6 were published in 2005.  Lame?  Yes.  Luckily, I didn't purchase the series in 2002 and then again in 2005 because I would have been totally lost.  I recently bought the COMPLETE set off eBay and got to read it in its entirety in one sitting. 

Despite Smith's apparent lack of dedication to the story, I was undoubtedly impressed by the final product's gritty and mature subject matter:  drugs, rape, and incest.  Both were treated very well and were vital to the overall story.  Smith balanced these heavy subjects by injecting humor, pop culture references, and flirtations between the Black Cat and the then-married Spider-Man.  

The series gave me a new appreciation for Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat.  Smith created a three-dimensional version of her, something I had never seen before.  He offered a lot of background to her life, showing us why she is who she is today.  The background stories were as interesting, moving, and sobering as the unfortunately canceled Emma Frost series. 

Reading "The Evil That Men Do" makes me want a monthly Black Cat series.  If only it was done right and she was treated as a three-dimensional character, and not like she appeared in the recent poorly written and poorly illustrated 2010 Black Cat limited series, or even the lame wannabe Sex and the City 2009 Marvel Divas limited series.   It also makes me think that now that Peter Parker is single again (thanks to the stupid time-altering Spider-Man "Brand New Day" and "One More Day" storylines), perhaps he and Felicia should explore a serious relationship together.

Spidey's Black Cat Brings Bad Luck

I just finished reading the Black Cat four-issue mini-series published by Marvel Comics. I wish I had read issue #1 before I bought the rest of the series.  I might have saved myself an additional $12.   

The Black Cat is Marvel Comics' answer to DC Comics' Catwoman.  Like Catwoman, the Black Cat is -- what else? -- a cat burglar, but she's not a villain.  She also flirts and has random sexual hook-ups with Spider-Man, much like Catwoman and Batman.  It's probably no surprise that they're similar since Spider-Man was probably conceived as Marvel's answer to DC's Batman.   Spidey and Batman are also -- arguably -- the two comic giants' individual heaviest hitters (and most profitable).

All that aside, the 2010 mini-series featuring a solo Black Cat follows her on a race to steal expensive artifacts in order to rescue her kidnapped mother from the Kravinoff family (i.e., Spider-Man's foe, Kraven).  Unfortunately, the story, characters, and art all lacked luster.  The supporting characters were interchangeable with no real personalities, so I often got confused as to who was who, and this was reading each issue back-to-back, not once a month.  Or maybe I just didn't care because the simple premise of the story was dragged out for four issues and none of the characters -- not even the Black Cat herself -- were well-written. 

The art was on par with current issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, which is to say that it wasn't good.  Gone are the days of Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen when the web-slinger and his supporting ladies were beautifully drawn.  Welcome back, 1960s Spider-Man with jagged edges, disproportionate body parts, and no depth to appearances, background, or details.  

To add insult to injury, all four issues were priced at $3.99 each.  However, readers were given about 25 cents of quality.  Save your money and look for Catwoman stories instead.  Like Spider-Man, The Black Cat falls flat on her fur-lined ass.