Review: ‘Black Cat’ #3 Closes Out King In Black Arc By Exploring The Heart, Soul, And Mind Of Felicia Hardy

When it comes to comic series that tie into massive events, the best ones are those that are able to take the backdrop of the event and bend it to fit into the ongoing narrative of the series. That is exactly what has been done with Marvel’s Black Cat which wraps up its part in King in Black with the relaunched series’ third issue.

Everything about this tie-in issue is just as fun, explosive, and character-driven as the normal Black Cat issues have been, but dialed up to 11. Artist C.F. Villa stretches those artistic legs alongside colorist Brian Reber as they bring to life an issue that deals with cosmically powered fights against symbiote dragons, an ever-shifting mental landscape of a portion of Felicia’s mind, as well as a trip down memory lane and a mock game show within that same mindscape. They nail it with every single page, seemingly jumping through these artistic hoops with relative ease.

There are a grand number of panels that would just look stunning as posters on the wall including fights against the aforementioned symbiote dragons and some of the mental temptation imagery that Felicia encounters as she deals with a manifestation of untamed magical power.

Ferran Delgado adds to the beautiful fun with bold and fabulous lettering that befits the levels that the issue is hitting. If the above-mentioned splash of powered Black Cat vs Symbiote Dragons is to be a poster, the big hard-to-miss, wonderfully placed sound effect lettering would have to be part of the deal. Beyond the sound effects, the scale and attention to detail in the balloon lettering as scenes intensify is on point.

While the issue provides a delightful visual feast, Jed MacKay continues his work to bring us the best stories with Felica Hardy, making her a force to be reckoned with. All the time in the aforementioned mental landscape allows the issue to not only be an event tie-in, but one that really delves into who Felicia is and what she truly desires. This untamed power offers her everything she could ever desire, but her mental toughness and desire for that which is real and not forced can defeat even unlimited power.

The love and dedication that the creative team puts into Felicia, her boys, the world they inhabit and making sure they are solid well-developed characters on fun and dangerous adventures is why this book continues to be one of the best on shelves.

Black Cat #3 is now on sale from Marvel Comics at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology.