Still reeling from how good Jessica Jones was? Need more Trisha Walker in your life? Or are you just a fan of comics like “Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” or “Spider-Gwen” or “Ms. Marvel” and you’re looking for another fix of a fun, charming superhero book?
Well, the first issue of “Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!” #1 by Kate Leth and Brittney Williams is for you! Read on below for our spoiler free review of the issue to find out why you should check this issue out.
Written by Kate Leth
Illustrated by Brittney Williams
Patsy Walker has managed to escape her past, her enemies and Hell itself (literally), but nothing compares to job hunting in New York City! Between trying to make rent and dodging (literal) bullets, Patsy barely has time to deal with her mother’s exploitative romance comics about her childhood resurfacing, much less how they start to interfere with her work and dating life. As she goes from living a double life to a triple, what the Hell is Patsy Walker supposed to do? Raise your (literal) claws for Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat!
The thing about Patsy Walker is that she’s actually one of the longest running characters in Marvel history. She was created in 1944, back when it was viable to have a female character lead multiple slice-of-life humour comics that lasted over 100 issues (what happened to you, comics?), before being folded into the Marvel Universe as an Avenger in the 1970s. Even though she’s been a mainstay of the Marvel Universe ever since, she’s never had as successful a solo series as she had in the 40s, instead jumping from “The Avengers” to “The Defenders” before just milling about in whatever miniseries would have her in the early 2010s while fading into relative obscurity.
Now, with the success of her appearance in the recent “She-Hulk” series – may it rest in peace – Kath Leth and Brittney Williams are looking to bring Patsy Walker back into the limelight of the Marvel Universe and, if this issue is any indication, they’re doing it with style. Right off the bat, it’s clear that Leth and Williams are looking to combine the humour of Patsy’s earliest series with the superhero antics of her appearances as Hellcat into a series that fits write alongside the comedy/superhero series like the aforementioned “Unbeatable Squirrel Girl”. There’s a strong focus on a quirky kind of humour that wouldn’t feel out of place in something like Parks & Recreation as the issue quickly builds a large, diverse cast of characters who all bounce their humour off one another.
This large cast of characters and focus on humour allows Leth and Williams to build a story into this issue that’s surprisingly not about punching someone in the face, but is more of a conscious look at the reality of being a superpowered individual. This is the truest of street level comics, capturing that feeling of a being a slice-of-life comedy like Patsy Walker’s original incarnation, but updating it for a millenial sense of humour complete with couch-surfing, queer bookshops and struggling to find a full time job. It’s what makes “Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!” #1 unique when you stand it alongside its peers as Leth and Williams take a character who was known originally for being part of these comedic looks at being a teenage girl in the 40s and update her to be a comedic look at being a 20-something year old woman in 2015.
What also makes “Hellcat” #1 (because there’s no way I’m typing out that full title every time) unique is the art style by Brittney Williams and Megan Wilson. It’s stylistic and fun and energetic and bright and vibrant and I’m pretty sure bright and vibrant mean essentially the same thing, but you know what I mean. Williams and Wilson infuse the pages of “Hellcat” with such a fun energy that it feels almost infectious. Even without Kate Leth’s dialogue, this issue would be a blast to read just on the artwork alone. Something that Williams does is play around with how she portrays Patsy panel-by-panel, sometimes showing her as normal, but with features exaggerated for comedic effect and sometimes going full-on chibi. It’s an effect that I found infinitely charming and gave “Hellcat” a unique sense of style in its humour.
Continued belowWilliams is a perfect fit for this series as her art has such a strong sense of style that it continues to be engaging even when the story isn’t about Patsy Walker punching people in the butt. We’ve been sort of trained to only appreciate art in comics whenever there’s a big splash page of the hero fighting off a horde of enemies or an intricate storytelling effect as the walls of reality break down around the characters. That doesn’t happen here. Leth and Williams actually channel more of Patsy’s slice-of-life style humour from the 40s and that leads to the comic focusing more on character interaction than superhero action. Thankfully, Brittney Williams’ sense of style allows for a strong vein of visual humour throughout the book to keep the art fresh and engaging alongside the dialogue.
That sense of style in the art is helped greatly thanks to the colours by Megan Wilson, who brings each page to vibrant life. There’s a strong motif of backgrounds being rendered in vibrant purples and greens which really helps to let Patsy’s red hair and yellow and blue costume pop off the page while allowing characters like She-Hulk to feel actualised in an otherwise normal-feeling environment despite being such a large green lady. It gives the comic a sense of hyper-reality which reinforces the feeling that we’re still in the Marvel Universe here and there’s still superheroics and Inhumans and all that weirdness, but Leth and Williams have chosen to take a surprisingly grounded approach by focusing on the real lives of Patsy Walker and friends.
In conclusion, why are you still reading this? Honestly, you should have stopped reading this review halfway through to go check out “Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!” #1. It’s fun, with a unique sense of style in its humour and its art. It takes the long, storied and… kinda weird history of one of Marvel’s longest-running characters and embraces it whole-heartedly and builds a story that is a tribute to the character’s earliest appearances while staying true to who the character has become. Kate Leth, Brittney Williams and Megan Wilson have done a great job of creating a fun, energetic comic that anyone could enjoy while honouring the history of Patsy Walker. What are you waiting for? Go read it!
Final Verdict: 8.9 – Hey! Get a move on! Go read this comic!
