Black Cat #15 – Lonely Hearts Club

Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, has stared down Frank Castle, the Punisher. She’s helped out her friend Mary Jane Watson. She even took a turn as a hero. Now she’s back to her regular life, and her old friend Peter Parker has come calling. When Peter Parker needs to stop a thief, he consults the best thief he knows.

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Creative Team

Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Gleb Melnikov
Color Artist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Joe Carmagna
Cover Artist: Josemaria Casanovas

Writing

This was a surprisingly moving issue of Black Cat. G. Willow Wilson really continues to explore the dynamic feelings and relationships of Felicia Hardy. This issue is a sometimes heartbreaking look at the idea that while Felicia may know lots of heroes and villains, she’s ultimately a pretty solitary person finding her own way in this world. Black Cat #15 brings us back to the familiar situationship between Felicia and Peter Parker. We see the dynamic continue to play out in a fun and exciting way. Peter might not agree with everything Felicia does, but when a thief threatens New York City, Felicia’s experience makes her the easy call for Peter.

I love the setting that G. Willow Wilson chose for this issue. It allowed us to see a wide range of Felicia in this issue, from her early-morning bed look to her familiar black-and-white costume. It also gave us a chance to see a fancy version of Felicia that is often missing from other editions of the character. While this is a nice little filler story as we transitioned from Frank Castle to the X-Men, Wilson didn’t treat it as a throwaway story. Instead, she gave us a beautiful look at the heart of Felicia Hardy. Thanks to Wilson, Hardy is no longer just a B-List Spider-Man anti-hero; she is a multifaceted character with real thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Art

Gleb Melnikov, Brian Reber, and Joe Caramagna gave us a great issue. Melnikov does a great job in this issue with some amazing line work. He gives us a beautiful version of Felicia we haven’t often seen, where she is elegant and couture. The lines from the background to the close-ups are crisp and clean.

Brian Reber brings the pages to life with beautiful colors. While Melnikov crafted an elegant Felicia, it’s a gorgeous green hue added to her dress by Reber that really makes it all shine. The background colors look magical and really set the scene for this issue in a meaningful way. The panel-less final panel focusing on just Spider-Man and Felicia was so beautifully done by Melnikov and Reber Joe Caramagna helps the story move beautifully and helps capture the tone of the story through well done lettering.

Final Thoughts

This was a great standalone issue of the Black Cat series. Self-contained stories like these can often be thrown away as filler stories, but this creative team avoids that. They craft a story that helps develop Felicia in an emotional and meaningful way.

Overall Grade: 9.5/10

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