Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes #4 Review

Is the Black Cat dead, or does she have nine lives? Find out here.

May 20, 2020

Not since March have we read Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum and Luca Maresca Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes, but thankfully, today Marvel Comics has released the fourth issue in the series digitally. In the latest issue, Black Cat goes missing, Hammerhead shows off his mechanical suit, and Mary Jane has a deep conversation with Peter Parker. Oh joy, that sounds great!

The Marvel Gamerverse is a great idea, though it does feel a bit empty with no new Spider-Man video games or DLC content. But that’s the whole point of this and other Gamerverse series, right? In the PS4 video game, Black Cat is an intriguing character thanks to her reluctance to be a supervillain but her inability to stop herself from stealing. This latest issue is all about Peter’s feelings around Black Cat potentially being dead, making for an interesting look at his character and by extension his relationship with Mary Jane.

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Truth be told, the relationship Peter has with Black Cat is complicated, but it’s navigated well here. In a key scene that I implore Mary Jane fans to read, Hallum does a great job capturing the love and understanding between MJ and Peter. Utilizing flashbacks, Hallum and Maresca show us how Spider-Man and Black Cat bond when in costume and how this is something only they can have because of their super-lifestyles.

The cover to issue #4 features NO Black Cat. Gasp!
Credit: Marvel Comics

No doubt one of the biggest draws of this series is getting to explore the video game world, and the creators have done a good job letting us do just that. Familiar locations, characters, and story beats connecting to the game are used, further solidifying this as a true separate Gamerverse, apart from the main comics. The opening action scene is epic and also reminiscent of an iconic move Spider-Man makes (you’ll know it when you see it) with some good closing action too.

This issue is solid thanks to a perfectly written MJ/Peter scene. It also has some good action and anyone who loved the game will simply love exploring the characters further in the comic book format.