Best of this Week: Black Cat #6 – Jed MacKay, Mike Dowling, Brian Reber and Ferran Delgado

This issue was weirdly sexy.

Not in the sense that Felicia was overly sexual or that the art was particularly provocative, but in the way that the dialogue was amazingly alluring. There’s something special in this issue that has been absolutely missing from the five prior to this and it’s definitely the sense of identity. Those prior issues did what most new series or mini-series do to sell the issues: feature cameos or locations from the bigger stars of the Marvel universe and hope things turn out well. I almost didn’t want to pick this issue up because of it, but I’m glad that I did because it had such a simple premise and an even better presentation. Felicia goes out on a date…with Batroc the Leaper.

Something about this struck a chord with me. There’s no pretense of romance between them, just two criminals, a thief and a mercenary, getting together to have a nice evening out together. Meanwhile, as the date goes on, we see another story going on at the same time with The Black Fox (Black Cat’s mentor) being targeted by members of the New York branch of the Thieves Guild. Something about the calmness of Felicia and Batroc’s conversation juxtaposed against the hectic action of the attack is beautiful in so many ways. 

Mike Dowling’s art absolutely captures this feeling with Felicia actually looking happy to be out with Batroc and the Leaper looking much the same. Reber’s excellent coloring and attention to lighting sets the mood as they go about their conversation, speaking of Batroc’s love of French, even the French Canadian variant and Felicia’s most recent heists, particularly the Sanctum Sanctorum and Richards family library jobs. They speak about these as if they’ve been friends forever and of course this is just a normal part of their jobs, of course.

Things start to get hot and heavy when they begin to speak of their attractions to their particular heroes. Felicia makes an excellent point that her attraction to Spider-Man is mostly due to the idea of him being a superhero and her being a thief, saying it’s the feeling of wanting something she couldn’t have. I’ve honestly never given it that much thought as to her attraction to Peter and Batroc even admits that he was surprised the first time he heard about their relationship, but understands the feeling.

Batroc draws a parallel between them with his own “paramour” in the form of Captain America, Steve Rogers. The way his face is drawn with such reverence and adoration is something I never expected. He explains that, other than lovers, no one is more passionate than those who engage in close combat against each other. I can understand exactly what he means because the two end up knowing each other so well after years and years of brutal battles against each other. He says that combat is as intimate as the act of love itself and I felt that. It’s extremely sentimental and shows another side of Batroc, a more French side, but with the depth that hasn’t been seen since Gwenpool’s first series.

As all of this is going on, Black Fox does his best to fend off the ambush by the Thieves. They send a bomb to his window and the ensuing explosion causes a cloud of smoke to cover the room. Dowling does a great job of showing just how capable Black Fox is, systematically taking out the foot soldiers, utilizing the smoke and their own weapons to take them out. As he makes his escape, he even tries to use the grappling hook that Felicia had made use of during her career, but unfortunately he is injured and falls into a nearby alley.  Dowling’s use of scale makes this an epic escape to look at.

The date suffers a bit of a lull, but Felicia has been enjoying herself thus far and asks Batroc if he wants to go steal stuff. The next few pages share an excellent dichotomy as Felicia has an inner monologue about the streets being full of dirt and blood as Black Fox is shown escaping from the Thieves Guild in the dark alley. He is frantic and afraid, this is contrasted by the happy smiles on Felicia and Batroc’s faces as they smile. She says that the lights above the city have always been a sign of everything that they, as thieves, have always wanted and fought for.

The dark intensity of Black Fox’s chase as he steals a car and rams into the Thieves Guild members in a horrific chase, with fear and anger in his eyes is a far cry from the calm and collected nature of the two thieves on an impromptu job. Felicia, as per her nature, steals something that looks insanely valuable from the outside, while Batroc, the romantic Frenchman, steals something for her heart even if it’s only as friends.

He steals her a blender.

A blender. I honestly almost got choked up because she even notes that no one has ever stolen a blender for her before and such a simple gesture can mean so much. She acknowledges that she doesn’t see a future with Batroc, but decides to spend a nice night with him. Black Fox, on the other hand, is battered and bruised as he is captured by the New York Thieves Guild and taken to their leader, Odessa Drake. 

This is honestly the issue that the series has been building towards. In just one issue I feel like it has an identity of its own, focusing on Felicia and her thoughts in a mature and gratifying way. It doesn’t have over the top action or ridiculous comedy, but what it lacks in those, it makes up for in a good character driven story. We’ve gotten glimpses or little things dedicated to Felicia’s background in the past, but we’ve never taken a deep dive into her psyche, the why of her becoming a thief. It’s such a beautiful reason and the way she’s able to talk and think so candidly with another person just like her is so refreshing.

Dowling’s art plays a big part in this too. Travel Foreman has been doing a fantastic job on the art in the past few issues, but things always seemed a bit too scattered, lost in the myriad of details his art style is geared towards. Dowling is focused and almost minimalist with the scenes having very little in the way of insanely detailed background, accentuated by Reber’s simple hues and little colors used. Felicia is beautiful and refined while Batroc seems like the gay best friend with excellently shaped facial hair. Black Fox looks incredibly capable for a man likely in his fifties to sixties and the action here is superb.

If this is the tone for the series going forward, then I am absolutely excited about where this is going. Hopefully there’s a lot more subtle and dark thievery in Black Cat’s future. While I like Ocean’s Eleven style heists, there’s something so much sweeter in her brand of sly stealing.

High recommend.