Black Cat #13 – A Dangerous Alliance of Enemies

Black Cat vs Punisher….The Finale. Felicia Hardy, the Queen of good luck, has hit a string of bad luck. She tried to be a hero and ended up the butt of jokes all over the internet. She lost a court case to a Vampire, went on hijinks in the Negative Zone with MJ, and accidentally hit The Punisher’s dog while she was fleeing the mob. The Punisher is out for vengeance, but what happens when teaming up with the person trying to kill you is the only way for either of you to survive?

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Shawn!

Need to catch up on this arc? Check out my reviews of Black Cat 11 and Black Cat 12

Creative Team

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

Writing

I can’t get enough of what G. Willow Wilson has done with Felicia Hardy over the course of this series. Black Cat #13 is such an incredibly satisfying end to this Black Cat vs The Punisher story arc. Wilson has crafted a version of Felicia that manages to be witty, smart, and incredibly self-aware. She’s still the same ole Felicia but with added depth. You really feel that come through in this issue. Wilson makes it clear that Frank and Felicia may never be friends, and yet at some point in life, they’re so similar they may have been more than friends. It’s through questions raised by a character within the story, that Felicia truly begins to understand how much something as simple as a dog may mean something to Frank. That’s kinda the whole premise of this arc. G. Willow Wilson put together two characters that probably shouldn’t work, but they do.

When you’re done reading Wilson’s arc, you fully understand that Frank Castle and Felicia Hardy, while having incredibly different backstories, are the same in many ways, and it’s not just their penchant for black-and-white costumes. Wilson shows us two characters who, being tossed around by the waves of life so often, now desperately seek to control everything they can within their own environment. Frank uses force to conquer the chaos of life, and Felicia uses her agility to dance through it like the lead at the American Ballet. While both have morally gray areas, neither thrives on mindless cruelty or senseless collateral. Frank doesn’t hunt Felicia out of sheer revenge; it’s his desire to protect the innocent. Felicia, despite being a thief, holds a deep empathy for those around her. The result is a beautiful story of oil and water who find out that their desire to control their lives, their strict personal code, and their desire to amplify their personas to mask isolation make them more alike than they would ever want to say.

Art

Andrés Genolet does such a spectacular job creating contrast between Castle and Felicia in this issue. Genolet leans heavily into Felicia’s playful expressiveness, capturing the tightening of her face and other micro-level expressions while perfectly capturing Frank’s “one facial expression,” as Felicia would call it. The linework on this issue is incredible. Genolet’s lines are crisp, creating distinct profiles for two characters who utilize the same color palette in their costumes. This also creates distinct contrast against well-drawn and lined backgrounds.

Brian Reber works with shading and coloring to the most masterful level available. It’s through Reber’s shading that the contrast and profiles created by Genolet’s line work really come to life when Felicia and Franks are together in the panel. As the threat grows for Felicia and Frank, Reber does such an impressive job showing our duo captured in the shadow of this massive beast, with tapered shading from around them onto the scene. Joe Caramagna knocks it out of the park with lettering choosing just the right emphasis to convey Wilson’s message in the narrative. The action of this issue really gave Caramagna a chance to flex his SFX muscles. The cross-panel roar was not only well done, but it helped prep you for moving to the next phase of this arc.

Final Thoughts

I can’t say enough good things about what this creative team has done with Black Cat. Black Cat #13 marks the end to another enjoyable arc following MJ and Felicia’s adventures in the Negative Zone. Each issue, we learn a little more about who Felicia is, her thoughts, her joys, her pains, and what drives her. In Black Cat, we’ve been given a character first series that redefines what Felicia Hardy means to the world of Marvel Comics

Overall Grade: 10/10

Did you like the MJ or Punisher arc better in Black Cat? Let me know in the comments