There’s a moment in Black Cat #5 that stuck out to me. Felicia Hardy, having been framed for a money laundering operation by Tombstone, has been dragged in handcuffs through a media parade. People shove cameras in her face, bombarding her with questions. J. Jonah Jameson arrives to gloat in the way that only he can pull off. Yet she keeps reflecting on what others – Jameson, Daredevil, Ms. Marvel – have told her. “What if I wanna be more than one thing?” her internal monologue rages.
That sentence hits home, not just because it reflects Felicia’s rather rocky heroic journey but also because it cuts to the core of what G. Willow Wilson is trying to say with this comic. Being a hero isn’t a one-size-fits-all operation. Some heroes are paragons of virtue, like Captain America or Superman. Others take a more violent approach to crime, like Moon Knight or the Punisher. Felicia is more than willing to do heroics, but she also won’t give up her thieving ways. It’s a great moment that shows she’s truly grown but doesn’t have to abandon the other parts of herself.
That isn’t the only food for thought that Wilson serves up in Black Cat #5. After Felicia gets bailed out of jail (by another Spider-Man character who fans will immediately recognize), talk turns to how the Internet is quick to label her a villain when they had previously labeled her a hero. It’s a sobering reminder that people can build up others online and tear them down just as easily, but that your own sense of self-worth should come from something deeper than likes on Instagram or posts on Bluesky. Between her work on Black Cat and Poison Ivy, Wilson isn’t just giving depth to antiheroines but also life lessons to her readers.
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She also gets to work with some of the best artists in the buisness. Yes, I’m counting Gleb Melnikov among those artists – his style has lent plenty of expression to Black Cat, especially in the facial expressions; you can tell when Felicia’s annoyed or thoughtful or thankful. The same goes for Tombstone, showing that he’s more than your standard crime lord, and even Jonah, once again reminding people that he’s not just a set of lungs shouting about how Spider-Man’s a menace.
Melnikov has a gift for using every available inch of space on a page, lending plenty of energy to potential conflicts. Take the fight between Felicia and Tombstone; when she kicks him, he literally flies across the page and crumples into the ground in one panel. A different conflict features an argument between Felicia and the Lizard, with Joe Caramagna providing translation for the scaly supervillain’s hissing speech while Melnikov shows us how he’s feeling. Topping it all off is Brian Reber, whose color art brings a shine to even the darkest pages.
Black Cat #5 is a reminder that while the superhero world largely feels black and white, some characters – especially Felicia Hardy – operate in shades of gray. I once again urge Spider-Man fans and comic fans in general to check out this book, as it’s that rare combination of witty and wise that comics could use more of.
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