Black Cat Appreciation 2018

[RobertMacQuarrie1]

That's because Marvel is so attached to their precious status-quo that they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it, no matter what it does to the characters.

I don't really think this is Marvel's desire to stick to a particular status quo. They were perfectly happy with Felicia being a Femme Fatale thief for quite a while.

If I had to guess- which probably isn't accurate- I'd say it might be a mix of "Let's piss people off to get their attention" and the particular creative parties on the book believing that certain characters have to exist in a particular box, or preferring them a certain way.

[Punisher007]

No, I mean their obsession with keeping Spider-Man in his "classic status." He can't be married, that ages him too much (even though THEY themselves claim that he's almost thirty). He cannot reveal his secret identity (despite the fact that Marvel has been playing fast and loose with secret identities for years) because that's too much of a change in the status quo/ He can't be successful because the "broke struggling screwup" is how we grew up reading him (even though he's like 29 now and it's lost a lot of it's charm). No, we must reset everything, no matter if certain characters coughFeliciacoughMary Janecough lose all of the impressive character development that they've gone through over the years.

[RobertMacQuarrie1]

No, I mean their obsession with keeping Spider-Man in his "classic status." He can't be married, that ages him too much (even though THEY themselves claim that he's almost thirty). He cannot reveal his secret identity (despite the fact that Marvel has been playing fast and loose with secret identities for years) because that's too much of a change in the status quo/ He can't be successful because the "broke struggling screwup" is how we grew up reading him (even though he's like 29 now and it's lost a lot of it's charm). No, we must reset everything, no matter if certain characters coughFeliciacoughMary Janecough lose all of the impressive character development that they've gone through over the years.

Well, of that which you described, the only thing the book is really sticking with is the Felicia/ Mary Jane thing. He's had his identity revealed to both Carlie and Anna. He's no longer broke or working for the Bugle, and is arguably successful now that he is a Doctor and the head of his own business.

Which I don't really think will last. While it's an interesting diversion, I do feel that this situation does make things far too easy for Peter, and does take him away from his more grounded roots. That's sort of the problem I have with what has happened with Spider-Man in the last few years, as it's become less a Spider-Man story and more about Batman, with the high tech resources and gadgets to aid him as Spider-Man.

But in regards to Felicia, I'd theorize that her recent turn to villainy is more due to the fact that the current creative party does not like her as a love interest. Given the fact that for her early appearances Felicia was depicted as a straight of villain, I can see the writer preferring her in that status quo and not as one of Spider-Man's principal love interests. He did initially want to kill her off during Ends of the Earth, remember. So I think her recent situation is less about Marvel fearing change, and more about the one particular writer having a particular philosophy about what the book should or should not be, and not really acknowledging that things could have changed over the years, and that it is perfectly valid change.

[Docz]

Alright so right now there seems to be a lot of negativity about her role in the current story arc and I'm still hopeful her character will turn around by the end of the story. We won't really know anything until issue three next month and probably nothing concrete on the future of her character until the arc has completed which probably wont be until close to the end of the summer. If you're in this thread you're probably a Black Cat fan so rather than dwell on the negative posibilites of how she turns out in the current run I'd like to do something positive and share some of my personal favorite stories featuring her, and if you're in this thread I'd encourage some of you to do the same. Perhaps we can discover some of her great stories that some of the rest of us may have missed. I'm honestly not the hugest Spiderman fan, all of my Spiderman trades are books where Black Cat plays a prominent role, so without going into too many spoilers here are some of my favorites off the top of my head.

Marvel Knights: Spiderman 1-4 and 5-9:
These books hold a kind of special place for me since this is the book that I remember most being what got me back into reading comics. I had read a lot when I was young but sort of fell out of comics until I was starting college and this was really when I starting reading again. These are the stories that really made her my favorite marvel lady, she is written incredibly well the story allowed her to be portrayed as someone who knew what she had been and knew what other supers in the community probably assumed about her but someone who was really trying to be a genuine hero despite it. Despite not having her signature bad luck powers at this time she still tough, clever and just all around fun to read.

The Evil That Men Do: Aside from the mess this story had in publication. I thought this was a great reintroducing of her into Spiderman's life. Not a whole lot of action the arc but both Spiderman and Felicia's dialogue with each other and their inner monologues showed that she had matured beyond the woman who couldn't see anything beyond his mask. It touches on some sensitive issues regarding her origins that some people didn't care for, but I thought it was done tastefully and Kevin Smith did a great job with all the dialogue. Once again a little light on action but pretty heavy on character and its done well.

Defenders 2011 7-12: This is getting a mention mostly because I was psyched to see her in a monthly teamup style book, was really sad it was canceled after only twelve issues. Not a whole lot of character growth for really any of the characters in the book, nothing too deep but it was just a fun read. Felicia got to have some great lines and it was nice to see her interacting with a group of heroes she hadn't had the chance to before. I just noticed now all the art for these books were done by Terry Dodson who is probably my favorite artist of hers.

So there are a few quick of my favorites, please all feel free to share yours. Hopefully some of us will uncover some older stories that we can enjoy while we eagerly await how the current arc plays out, thanks all!

[ceroxide]

so opinions on the new costume?
the eyes on the scarf looked really cheesy

ASM-3-03-c3858.jpg

[Docz]

What book is that page from? Never mind I found it, I think its ok. I liked how it was drawn in J Scott Campbell's variant cover of #2. There were some interesting notes from the artist in the back of the Claws #1 trade where the artist didn't feel her classic costume wasn't very cat like so he gave her cat like eyes and added ears to her mask for that mini series. I imagine that cat eyes and tail are trying to make her costume more cat like.

[Punisher007]

I don't like it. It's taking the "cat" thing way too far. And it just doesn't look very good. I also love that Marvel is acting like this is the first time that her identity was exposed, hence why she's pissed. No, her identity was revealed way back in the 80's, so once again Marvel is blatantly ignoring/contradicting continuity just to make their flawed premise work.

[Docz]

Yeah and she was a registered superhero during the civil war. Also the difficulties she faced with her past and identity being known was her major subplot in the Marvel Divas mini.

[Project Initiative Cascada]

so opinions on the new costume?
the eyes on the scarf looked really cheesy

ASM-3-03-c3858.jpg

Remove the eyes on the outfit and it wouldn't look that bad. It is a nice upgrade from her original costume. She actually looks like a black cat now.

[The Red Monk]

so opinions on the new costume?
the eyes on the scarf looked really cheesy

ASM-3-03-c3858.jpg

I prefer the older costume. Now she looks so...generic. And the cat eyes on her costume are just cheesy as hell.

[Punisher007]

She looks even more like a Catwoman knockoff in that costume. Besides the stupid eyes on her suit (really stupid btw) and a little bit of black fuzz, it's the same basic costume that Selina Kyle wears.

[Donuts]

I don't know what to think of the costume, it looks pretty goofy.

[Hypestyle]

I don't like the return to villainy. I don't accept it.

[Bat007007]

I don't like the return to villainy. I don't accept it.

Black Cat and Catwoman should date very soon. They have a lot in common more than ever now.

[retical]

so opinions on the new costume?
the eyes on the scarf looked really cheesy

ASM-3-03-c3858.jpg

Looks goo.... wait are those... eyes?