Black Cat (Marvel Comics): Difference between revisions
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She later returned during a gang war, stopping Hammerhead from shooting Spider-Man in the right temple. Later, after the crisis was resolved, she passionately kissed Spider-Man through his mask, her previous interest in him having gotten stronger. She had apparently no idea of the age disparity between her and Peter, and mistakenly assumed, after he left in a rush, that he was a married man. When she managed to unmask him and realized how young he really is, she was revulsed and threw up. |
She later returned during a gang war, stopping Hammerhead from shooting Spider-Man in the right temple. Later, after the crisis was resolved, she passionately kissed Spider-Man through his mask, her previous interest in him having gotten stronger. She had apparently no idea of the age disparity between her and Peter, and mistakenly assumed, after he left in a rush, that he was a married man. When she managed to unmask him and realized how young he really is, she was revulsed and threw up. |
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In this version, the Black Cat actually has short brunette hair, and wears a white-haired wig in her secret identity. As a side note, this wig has proven itself to stick |
In this version, the Black Cat actually has short brunette hair, and wears a white-haired wig in her secret identity. As a side note, this wig has proven itself to stick extremely well to Black Cat's scalp. More than once, Elektra yanked on it with force, and it has stayed in place. |
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===[[MC2]]=== |
===[[MC2]]=== |
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Revision as of 01:42, 13 January 2006
| Black Cat | |
|---|---|
| File:Bcx.png Black Cat Art by Terry Dodson. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979) |
| Created by | Marv Wolfman Keith Pollard |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Felicia Hardy |
| Team affiliations | Spider-Man, The Owl, Kingpin |
| Notable aliases | "Party Hardy" (informal) |
| Abilities | An experienced gymnast and acrobat; swings across the environment with her cat whip, which she can use to attack opponents; a powerful hand-to-hand combatant, ability to affect probability fields (jinxing her enemies) |
The Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' Marvel Universe. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol.1 #194 (July, 1979). She was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard.
Character biography
The Black Cat is a costumed cat burglar and sometime crimefighter who has been romantically involved with Spider-Man in the past. Although the character started out as a Catwoman homage, she has since evolved in a different direction than her predecessor.
The character has been the occasional star of mini-series, though she most frequently appears as a supporting character in the cast of various Spider-Man comics and other titles set in the Marvel Universe.
The Black Cat began a career in crime out of respect and adoration for her cat burglar father, but kept it on as a misguided attempt to attract the attentions of Spider-Man. Felicia and Peter Parker/Spider-Man have been very close in the past, and she is fully aware of his secret identity.
Initially, Felicia's abilities were 100% natural, with the 'accidents' which seemed to befall those who crossed her path being merely well-planned stunts and traps. After her near-death at the hands of The Owl and Doctor Octopus in Spectacular Spider-Man #72, Felicia feared that her lack of powers made her a vulnerability to Spider-Man, and that she would lose him. While Spider-Man was away in the "Secret Wars", Felicia turned to the Kingpin, and made a pact with him in return for his scientists giving her super-powers. She kept the secret from Peter for quite some time. What she didn't realise was that her newly-gained genuine 'bad luck' power was infectious, and that it was permanently jinxing Spider-Man. That of course was the Kingpin's plan all along.
She broke up with Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange removed her bad luck power, changing her other abilities in the process. Since then she has settled into a life of her own, albeit one which regularly intertwines with Peter's. She recently dated Flash Thompson for a while, primarily to irritate Peter. Recently, Mary Jane Watson and the Black Cat have become close friends - in spite of their once intense rivalry over Peter. She bought some equipment from the Tinkerer, and occasionally teams up with Spider-Man.
Personality
Originally portrayed as an unstable obsessive, Felicia Hardy evolved into a strong-willed and clever foil to Spider-Man. While pursuing a life of crime, she very occasionally threw caution to the winds when her greed got the better of her. She could be similarly reckless when it came to her relationships. (When pursuing Spider-Man's affections, she once set him up so that he would be caught with her in the commision of a crime -- hoping he'd then be forced to turn outlaw and they could then be together.) She could also be quite superficial (when Peter Parker revealed his identity to Felicia, she begged him to put his mask back on -- she couldn't deal with the thought of Spider-Man as an average guy) and, appropriately enough, catty. Again, she has grown considerably since then.
Felicia is also a fun-loving, vivacious, thrillseeker who enjoys being the Black Cat for the adventure it provides. She is also a loyal friend.
She is also quite sensual, a bit of a flirt, and enjoys companionship.
Associates and Antagonists
Virtually all of Felicia Hardy's enemies and acquaintances come from the Spider-Man Family.
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Originally antagonists, Peter and Felicia fell into a intense (and primarily physical) romance when she reformed. However, since her attraction was more towards Spider-Man than Peter Parker, their relationship was doomed to failure. They are currently good friends and gladly help each other out of tight spots. Felicia realizes now that breaking up with Peter was a mistake -- she is still "crushing" on Spider-Man . . . and Peter Parker.
- Mary Jane Watson-Parker - Peter's wife and erstwhile rival for his affections. Surprisingly, the two women are quite close and friendly.
- Flash Thompson - Friend of the Parkers, Felicia began a relationship with him in order to dump him in order to get back at Peter for marrying someone else. Ironically, she actually came to love Flash and was dumped by him instead.
Powers and abilities
Initially, the Black Cat had no superhuman abilities. It was later revealed that she had a latent mutant ability to affect probability fields. This ability was activated through artificial means. It entails that under stress she is subconsciously able to cause anyone in her immediate vicinity that she perceives as a threat to be susceptible to freak accidents, like guns jamming and exploding, or tripping on objects, etc. This ability also had the side effect of eventually causing problems for anyone spending long periods of time around her. Doctor Strange eventually tampered with her powers removing that unwanted side-effect.
The Black Cat has reflexes, agility, and stamina of an Olympic level acrobat. She is physically very strong and athletic and has great physical endurance. She is an excellent street fighter capable of taking on several armed male assailants and incapacitating them without being injured herself.
The Black Cat has also acquired several devices from the Tinkerer that increase her agility and heighten her strength. She wears ear rings that interact with the balance centers of her brain to grant her enhanced agility. Her costume enhances her strength in some unrevealed manner, but apparently not quite to a superhuman degree. The gloves of her costume have retractable claws at the fingertips which enable her to tear through most surfaces and easily scale walls. In addition to this the costume is extremely distracting and provocative, making it difficult for a male assailant to concentrate on what he is doing. Finally, she wears contact lenses that enable her to see in the dark. Using this equipment the Black Cat has been able to successfully best enemies who have superhuman abilities.
The Black Cat carries a repelling and grappling hook which enables her to swing from buildings in a manner similar to Spider-Man, though not quite as fast.
Publication history
Writer/director Kevin Smith began writing the Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do miniseries in 2002. After the third issue the series went on a hiatus until 2005, when Smith revealed he had finally finished writing the scripts. [1]. Smith has stated "While I have zero defense for my lateness (particularly when folks like Bendis turn out great stories in multiple books on a monthly basis), I will say this: it's a much better story now that it would've been had I completed it back in '02."
Notable Stories, Story Arcs, and Storylines That Feature the Black Cat
- Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do - a six-part series by Kevin Smith that began in 2002 and is finally slated to end in 2006.
Notable Quotes By, About, or Relating to the Black Cat
Alternate versions
The Black Cat is Felicia Hardy, a young woman who blames her father’s death on Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin. Seeking revenge, she stole a priceless tablet that he was going to use on his comatose wife. Kingpin hired the assassin Elektra to retrieve it, and when Black Cat threw it into the harbor Elektra threw one of her sais into the Black Cat's chest, sending the thief over the edge. She was presumed dead, though no body was found.
She later returned during a gang war, stopping Hammerhead from shooting Spider-Man in the right temple. Later, after the crisis was resolved, she passionately kissed Spider-Man through his mask, her previous interest in him having gotten stronger. She had apparently no idea of the age disparity between her and Peter, and mistakenly assumed, after he left in a rush, that he was a married man. When she managed to unmask him and realized how young he really is, she was revulsed and threw up.
In this version, the Black Cat actually has short brunette hair, and wears a white-haired wig in her secret identity. As a side note, this wig has proven itself to stick extremely well to Black Cat's scalp. More than once, Elektra yanked on it with force, and it has stayed in place.
In the alternate future comics known as MC2, Felicia Hardy married Flash Thompson and had at least one child-- Felicity-- before they divorced. In this continuity, she has apparently retired the identity of the Black Cat and runs a private detective agency. She has begun a romantic relationship with a woman she works with, a fact that has produced much tension between herself and her daughter. (There has been no implication that Felicity has a problem with the lesbian aspect, but instead it appears that she blames her mother for the divorce. The exact chronology of these events has not been established.) Felicity temporarily adopted the identity of the Scarlet Spider.
Appearences in Other Media
Animation
Spider-Man (1994-1998)
Felicia Hardy and her alter ego, Black Cat, was depicted as the first potential love interest for both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, rivaled only by Mary Jane Watson. Felicia was the well bred, well to do daughter of business woman Anastasia Hardy, and had only vague memories of her father, a career jewel thief known as the Cat, who had been imprisoned for years because he had memorized the World War II super soldier formula. As her civilian identity, Felicia was a slightly petite (unlike her alter ego) but none the less very attractive blonde with a crisp brogue and a sharp mind. She briefly dated Michael Moerbius and later Jason Macendale, who was revealed to be the series Hobgoblin, and the revelation left her devastated.
In this version of her character, Felicia was experimented on by the Kingpin/Wilson Fisk with an upgraded type of the super-soldier project used to create Captain America, gifting her with great physical strength agility and dexterity, and the ability to alter her physical appearance i.e. hair color to white and costume change (thus transforming her into the more recognizeable "Comic" form.) She has the ability to emit some sort of knockout gas from her wrists and an extendable cable and grappling hooks. She appears to have claws but they may only be part of her costume, allowing her to tear/cut through steel and concrete.
Video Games
Spider-Man 2
The Black Cat also makes an appearance in the Spiderman 2 Movie Video Game, as an unsual seductive ally of the web slinger. Most missions involve Spiderman chasing her, sometimes for no apparent reason.