Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1989-10-01 02:10:42 |
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Marvel Comics Presents #36 (Hellcat)
Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #36 (Hellcat story only)
Cover Date: Dec 89
Title: "Encounter in the alley of death"
Credits:
Jack C. Harris - Writer
June Brigman - Penciler
Roy Richardson - Inker
Kelly Corvese - Assistant Editor
Terry Kavanagh - Editor
Review/plot:
Hellcat jumps some thugs who shoot the person they were attacking so that Hellcat is forced to stay with the victim rather than chase them.
It turns out the lady that was shot was a cop. After avoiding the police...
...Hellcat follows the transmitter that she found among the shot policewoman's stuff. It leads her to a factory where homeless people are being brainwashed and used in the drug trade.
Hellcat tries to stop them, but the boss threatens to order the homeless people to kill themselves.
So Hellcat lets herself get tied up, but quickly escapes.
Her fire also sets off the sprinkler system, and then Hellcat escapes, rescues the homeless people, and drives the criminals out into the waiting arms of the police.
It's a good little story. I could quibble about an appearance of the female bondage trope or say that the little bit at the end from the homeless lady is a little patronizing, but for an eight pager those are minor faults. Jack C. Harris is apparently known for writing female characters at DC and he does a good job showing Hellcat kicking ass here. And June Brigman's art is surprisingly gritty which works well for the story.
Quality Rating: C+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
Hellcat is a great character name, and I like the design of the costume. The red hair is a great color combination improvement from Greer's black hair as the Cat.
However, Patsy Walker is just an uninteresting character, and the baggage from her Archie-like original series weighs her down. In addition, her association with Daimon Hellstrom is just distracting. There is simply nothing to do with the character that makes sense as a street level superhero. Englehart and her little time witht he Defenders really saddled her with a backstory that prevents the characters from being able to break out.
Brigman's work is very nice here. She has good craft and an appealing style, but her style usually doesn't work well for superheroes. It does here for some reason.
