Advance Review: Mary Jane Black Cat Beyond #1 One-Shot

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

3 years ago

Whilst the whole Beyond storyline drags on (we all know that Peter is back in a few months), one of the surprising little solicitations from Marvel is this Mary Jane Black Cat team-up. The timing works for Beyond, but does it work for Mary Jane, who recently had a mini series, and Black Cat whose recent series has come to an end? For all those people who love the variety of Mary Jane and Black Cat cheesecake art found across the internet, this book could be their cup of tea. After all, who doesn’t love a platinum blonde and a red head in shiny black outfits?

Peter is still in hospital. The Hood is need of the best thief in New York. Finding out that Felicia has been visiting sone “unknown” person in hospital, he decides the stake the joint out. Of course, he gets more than he bargained for as Mary Jane is also there. The Hood has a proposition that the ladies can’t refuse and the pair head off in a two-for-one adventure.

Jed MacKay has been a revelation in recent years. I never get tired of talking up this writer. He delivers quality scripts, long running plots interspersed with snappy moments and short term elements adding nuances to the overall story. Here, he keeps the flirty Felicia tone perfectly; I am not sure that any writer has spent this much time and effort building up what could have been seen as just a supporting character. His Mary Jane stands up well, though there are a couple of moments where she reacts as a much younger character. Amidst all the action there are a couple of excellent nuanced moments between Felicia and Mary Jane that absolutely makes the book, though i don’t think anyone would say that Mary Jane has a “dump truck ass”.

MacKay is joined by regular Black Cat collaborator artist C.F. Villa who maintains the familiar angular meets cheesecake; both Felicia and Mary Jane look great, they are the main attraction oof the book obviously. Villa’s facial elements matches the curvy aspect of his characters, showing exactly what each of the girls are thinking and matching the situation that they find themselves in. Action scenes are pacy, as we have come to expect. Colors are provided by Erick Arciniega who keeps the Brian Reber style from Black Cat’s regular book in place. VC’s Travis Lanham supplies the white letters on black word box, though ownership of who says what does, get a little confusing in the middle act. Being a Black Cat book Marvel have brought back Black Cat volume 1 1 cover artist, the incomparable J. Scott Campbell who extends, languishes and curves his way to another gorgeous cover.

Being a huge fan of MacKay, Campbell and of course Felicia, with this creative team they would have to go some way to disappoint me. Safe to say that didn’t happen. With Felicia’s almost obsession with a certain red-head in her own, it’s great to see the pair together. By continuing this theme, MacKay gets to build on Mary Jane and Felicia’s relationship, although maybe not in the same way that Peter dreams. A fantastic book, that goes to show that dropping Black Cat from schedule is a huge mistake for Marvel.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Jed MacKay
Art by; C.F. Villa
Colors by; Erick Arciniega
Letters by; VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover by; J. Scott Campbell
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network