With the next Playstation Spider-Man game announced, it’s a good time to dive back into the Gameverse comics, right? Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes #5 is the final issue in the miniseries and is a digital-only release written by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum with art by Luca Maresca. If you’ve played the Black Cat DLC, some of this issue will be familiar to you, but if you haven’t played the game or these levels, gear up for an exciting finale.
The last issue continued to show how strong Hallum can write a proper Mary Jane and Peter Parker relationship. You get that in this issue too, especially in how the book ends, and it’s a nice reminder of how great this couple is when written correctly. That’s only a fraction of what this book is about though, as it opens with Hammerhead bursting through some rubble after Black Cat saved Spider-Man.
A lot of this issue plays out a key boss-battle in the game, but it’s all-new story if you haven’t played it. It was nice to be reminded of the scene as a gamer who beat Spider-Man PS4, but I will admit it wasn’t the most exciting thing to rehash it either. The scene takes up five pages of the book.
They reversed the Spidey kiss!
Credit: Marvel Comics
This issue never forgets how fun and likable Black Cat is and we see it in how Spidey and Mary Jane view her. She’s an interesting character that’ll likely play a part in future games, further cementing this issue as a worthy read. It’s also nice to see Black Cat do what she does best: slinking around and stealing stuff, which we get some of here.
The art by Maresca and colors by Rachelle Rosenberg are excellent, especially where superhero costumes are concerned. Spidey’s mask, the detailing to bring out his cheekbones, and the armor Black Cat wears, all looks great. It’s nice to see homages to the game like Spidey thwipping his way onto a car, or the boss battle I mentioned above, all calling back to the game. If you love the game you’ll love how the art team didn’t let you forget it.
This is a good issue if you’ve played the game and an even better one if you haven’t. Your enjoyment may vary depending on your relationship with Spider-Man, the game, or comics in general, but for the most part, this is good superhero fun.
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