REVIEW: Black Cat (Vol 2) #2

It you are looking for a book that is as joyous as it is bonkers, then Black Cat would be it. I mean, where else can you get an anti-Venom Black Cat, a comatose Doctor Strange, a ghost dog and the Spider-mobile?

Earth’s best hope to ward off the King Knull is Doctor Strange. Thing is, Knull being an ahead of game kind of villain, has already rousted the good doctor into the bowels of space jail. Who better than to steal, erm, rescue him than Felicia and her gang.

Jed MacKay surprises yet again with his knowledge of the Spider-universe with dialogue nuances that charm in their simplicity and demonstrate an understanding of all that has gone before, and quite a lot has indeed gone before! With another writer at the helm, this book could seem like chaos personified. Nothing is in fact further from the truth. Along with the history of “Spider”, MacKay also incorporates Felicia’s own more recent history. This issue, like many of this and the previous run is frenetic and pacy, though that doesn’t stop MacKay filling the book with a witty and semi serious monologue,

The art is provided by C.F. Villa who continues his excellent work on this book. Villa has a great knack of curvy frame work and body lines, excellent facial elements capture the cheeky charm of Marvel’s premier thief. When you consider the level of crazy that goes on and in fact has gone on in this series, you have to applaud how Villa manages to get it all in. Imagine if you will, receiving scripts that calls for the aforementioned anti-Venom, the car oh did I mention that a goblin glider also shows up? MacKay is definitely keeping Villa as entertained as much as the reader. If i had one complaint about the art it would be that at times heavy inking lines are used. I am not sure if this is Villa or the darker than normal color scheme used by Brian Reber. It could be an effect used for the idea of Knull taking over the world, but for me, Felicia would suit cleaner or finer inks. Letterer Ferran Delgado delivers a font that reads well and doesn’t detract from the chaotic action. Finally, there are a raft of variant covers from artist such as Olivier Copiel, Adam Hughes and Artist Dean.

This book is one of my favourite books and has been since last year. I look forward to reading it every month, and to date Jed Mackay and the team have never let me down. If you read comics for the fun and enjoyment of excellent storytelling with fun and vivacious characters, you cannot do better than read this book.

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

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Jed MacKay
Art by; C.F. Villa
Colors by; Brian Reber
Letters by; Ferran Delgado
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