Hellcat 1 Preview.

[Alex_Of_X]

Why?! Why is issue #1 4.99$? Couldn't those extra pages have gone into issue #2?

*shakes a fist at the sky* Marveeeeeel--

[cranger]

If this was an ongoing I would be interested enough to try it out. As a 5 issue mini I worry about the pacing based on the solicits. Release day reviews might be the deciding factor.

[Frontier]

If this was an ongoing I would be interested enough to try it out. As a 5 issue mini I worry about the pacing based on the solicits. Release day reviews might be the deciding factor.

A murder mystery feels like something they could resolve in five issues.

[Frontier]

Thoughts on the first issue:

spoilers:

I can't say I ever expected to start out a Patsy Walker comic with her witnessing her dad abandoning her and Patsy under arrest for murder but it definitely set the tone of this series. Even the art is kind of fitting in the sense that it's very colorful and stylized but in a gritty, dark, noir way which is like halfway between what one would expect from a Hellcat comic and the fact that the story is a murder mystery with our heroine trying to clear her name. Also quite beautiful, which is a double bonus. I don't know how emotionally invested we should be in the death of Patsy's new boyfriend of the month beyond the fact that she's being accused of killing him. I mean, he's probably not as perfect as he appears on the surface (especially when Patsy doesn't know why he and Hedy broke up) though Patsy dating Hedy's ex was never going to end well. Comics have always been kind of vague as to whether Patsy had a secret identity or not and it wasn't clear if her identity was outted after her arrest (they never even unmasked her) or if Cantwell is going with everybody already knowing she was Hellcat. I guess that's another Marvel hero without a secret identity. I wonder if we'll see her in-costume mugshot eventually... I love how Patsy is all "I believe honesty is the best policy" to the police but the moment she's being interrogated she lawyers up. She can be a little ditzy but not stupid. Though it would've been a great chance for a Jen/She-Hulk appearance because no way she'd leave Patsy in jail. So Patsy's kind of a hot mess and nowhere near as squeaky clean as her moms' stories about her painted her as. I mean, hiding booze from your mom and running a high school test forgery racket is pretty devious for an American sweetheart but this story seems all about exploring Patsy's morality and how good she actually is as a person. Of course Cantwell mentions the relationship with Tony. That was a thing for a hot minute. I'm guessing the murkiness of Patsy's innocence comes down to her vague memories of what happened and the possibility of her having a bad/demon side, which her dad seemed aware of. This wouldn't be a great murder mystery without love drama now that we know Rick/Sleepwalker was in love with Patsy and had a motive to kill her boyfriend (so the police consider them both suspects even though they only arrested Patsy). And now she has to deal with his feelings, her own feelings, and the murder hanging over their heads. All in all and an intriguing start to a new Hellcat series, even if it's a lot more dark and kind of depressing than I expected.

end of spoilers

[Dream Boy]

I knew we were getting dark Patsy but I didn't know this dark. The mystery is interesting but I'm even more intrigued with Patsy's duality. Some nice nods to the past, including a tease of the literal Hellcat that she's been transformed into in the past. I also find this version of the Hedy/Patsy friendship (frenemyship?) far better than what we've seen in the past. I've been into Patsy since the old Defenders days and have followed all of her various appearances and series so I'm definitely into this.

[Will Evans]

Guys I’m very late to the party here.

I was thinking about Tony Stark married to Emma Frost and how that’s affecting Emma’s comic popularity. Then I remembered Iron Man was dating Patsy Walker before Emma, and even proposed to Hellcat.

So I searched the forums. And I totally forgot this miniseries by Cantwell came out last year.

How was it? I only found this thread for the preview of issue 1.

[Frontier]

Guys I’m very late to the party here.

I was thinking about Tony Stark married to Emma Frost and how that’s affecting Emma’s comic popularity. Then I remembered Iron Man was dating Patsy Walker before Emma, and even proposed to Hellcat.

So I searched the forums. And I totally forgot this miniseries by Cantwell came out last year.

How was it? I only found this thread for the preview of issue 1.

It's...okay.

The dark and gritty noir vibe was handled well but I felt like it was spending too much time trying to make Patsy dark and possibly more demonic than she even thought possible that it lost sight of her real personality and what makes her appealing as a hero. Also the mystery wasn't much of a mystery.

The art was also fairly nice.

[kcekada]

There was absolutely no buzz about it, so I gather not that well-received. I actually had forgotten all about it. Not sure that Cantwell really gets Patsy, but I'm glad that he tried.

[Pav]

It's...okay.

The dark and gritty noir vibe was handled well but I felt like it was spending too much time trying to make Patsy dark and possibly more demonic than she even thought possible that it lost sight of her real personality and what makes her appealing as a hero. Also the mystery wasn't much of a mystery.

The art was also fairly nice.

I'm not a huge Hellcat fan, but I did enjoy Cantwell's Iron Man series and I was excited about the use of Sleepwalker in her series, so I read the whole thing.

It had some interesting ideas and tried really hard to create some coherence between the different parts of Patsy's history, but in the end I found it very disjointed. And I agree about the mystery: my response was, "Oh, okay."

Kind of a swing and a miss, but fun nonetheless.

-Pav, who wishes Sleepwalker showed up more often...

[Frontier]

There was absolutely no buzz about it, so I gather not that well-received. I actually had forgotten all about it. Not sure that Cantwell really gets Patsy, but I'm glad that he tried.

I think he gets his own version of Patsy who is a little more surly and serious compared to what people are used to.

I'm not a huge Hellcat fan, but I did enjoy Cantwell's Iron Man series and I was excited about the use of Sleepwalker in her series, so I read the whole thing.

It had some interesting ideas and tried really hard to create some coherence between the different parts of Patsy's history, but in the end I found it very disjointed. And I agree about the mystery: my response was, "Oh, okay."

Kind of a swing and a miss, but fun nonetheless.

-Pav, who wishes Sleepwalker showed up more often...

I felt bad for Rick spoilers:

Dude confesses his feelings to Patsy and in the course of his investigation ends up having to see her banging another dude.

end of spoilers

[Pav]

I think he gets his own version of Patsy who is a little more surly and serious compared to what people are used to.

I felt bad for Rick spoilers:

Dude confesses his feelings to Patsy and in the course of his investigation ends up having to see her banging another dude.

end of spoilers

Well, and maybe I missed an issue somewhere, but as far as I know, Rick and Patsy had never had any kind of relationship whatsoever. I just kinda shrugged my shoulders at his inclusion in her miniseries and merely appreciated Sleepwalker being used, but it was kind of a random choice. It felt like Cantwell just liked the character and included him/them, despite Rick and Patsy having never even met each other...?

But as I said, maybe I missed an issue somewhere in which they get acquainted.

-Pav, who will take whatever Sleepwalker he can get...

[Will Evans]

I think he gets his own version of Patsy who is a little more surly and serious compared to what people are used to.

I felt bad for Rick spoilers:

Dude confesses his feelings to Patsy and in the course of his investigation ends up having to see her banging another dude.

end of spoilers

Who did she end of with?

[Dermie]

Who did she end of with?

She wasn't involved with anyone by the end of the series. But the series begins with Patsy being a suspect in the murder of her boyfriend-at-the-time, Spalding Grantham, and Rick was jealous of their relationship when they were together.

Well, and maybe I missed an issue somewhere, but as far as I know, Rick and Patsy had never had any kind of relationship whatsoever. I just kinda shrugged my shoulders at his inclusion in her miniseries and merely appreciated Sleepwalker being used, but it was kind of a random choice. It felt like Cantwell just liked the character and included him/them, despite Rick and Patsy having never even met each other...?

But as I said, maybe I missed an issue somewhere in which they get acquainted.

-Pav, who will take whatever Sleepwalker he can get...

I don't think they had much (if any) on-panel history before this but its not uncommon for the characters like Hellcat and Sleepwalker who spend more time off-panel and than regularly appearing in books to have these off-panel adventures where they establish new connections with people. For example, prior to the MARVEL DIVAS miniseries where Patsy, Monica Rambeau, Firestar and Black Cat were a group of close friends most of them had never interacted on-panel before.

My guess is that Cantwell figured Patsy and Sleepwalker would travel in some similar circles, given their supernatural connections, and would have crossed paths at some point that way.

[Frontier]

Cantwell set up Patsy and Rick/Sleepwalker working together at the end of his Iron Man run but a lot of it was off-panel.

She wasn't involved with anyone by the end of the series. But the series begins with Patsy being a suspect in the murder of her boyfriend-at-the-time, Spalding Grantham, and Rick was jealous of their relationship when they were together.

And the series had to take at least one dig at her terrible luck with men .

I don't think they had much (if any) on-panel history before this but its not uncommon for the characters like Hellcat and Sleepwalker who spend more time off-panel and than regularly appearing in books to have these off-panel adventures where they establish new connections with people. For example, prior to the MARVEL DIVAS miniseries where Patsy, Monica Rambeau, Firestar and Black Cat were a group of close friends most of them had never interacted on-panel before.

My guess is that Cantwell figured Patsy and Sleepwalker would travel in some similar circles, given their supernatural connections, and would have crossed paths at some point that way.

And have barely interacted as a group together since that mini ended outside one or two instances and Patsy having to deal with Queenpin Felicia.

[kcekada]

Patsy works best with a team dynamic. I'd like to see her back with the Defenders -- a mix of old and new members (though honestly, would not be against a team of members pulled only from the Englehart/Gerber/Kraft years. Hard pass on the DeMatteis characters.