Black Cat #5 Review

 

Writer: G Willow Wilson

Artist: Gleb Melnikov

Colorist: Brian Reber

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Adam Hughes; Ben Oliver; Rogê Antônio & Marcelo Maiolo; Olivier Coipel

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 17, 2025

 

Sometimes, one person really can change everything. That's what happens when Spider-Man starts sending perps to the hospital. His refusal to discuss his epiphany with Felicia Hardy shocks her. Worse, it sends a tremor through the streets of New York City. Suddenly, criminals like Shocker and his Aftershocks are playing for keeps. Felicia is so off her game that she gets in a needless tussle with the Lizard, and younger pickpockets get the jump on her.

 

With everything up in the air, Felicia tries to convert her star power as a glamorous thief into a protector of New Yorkers with money to spend. Can she get her world spinning aright after Spider-Man knocked it off its axis? And how will Felicia Hardy react when the new kingpin of New York tarnishes her image? Let’s sharpen our claws, leap into Black Cat #5, and see!

 

Story

Tombstone captured Felicia and locked her away. As she sought a means of escape, she overheard him discussing Spider-Man's descent into villainy with a subordinate. Believing she could still save her web-friend, Felicia connived a means of escape. Then she rushed to the location Tombstone mentioned to convince Spider-Man to mend his ways. Instead, Felicia discovered that Tombstone had set her up, and someone she thought she could manipulate had manipulated her instead.

 

When cops surround her, Felicia is so flummoxed that she plays for pity. But Detective Shari Sebbens isn't beguiled by Felicia’s poor kitty routine. Shari has had a tough time lately. She came up empty while investigating a rash of robberies at fashion stores. Nor could she prevent someone from abducting a military drone from Rand Enterprises, causing significant property damage and endangering New Yorkers. So, the police detective plays it by the book in Black Cat #5. With her city becoming a war zone, at least Shari took one criminal off the streets.

 

Pursuing a career as a master thief meant hiding in the shadows. As Boris, her man in the chair, warned her, being a hero requires a different skill set. Felicia has ridden the highs of the internet and news media stardom. In Black Cat #5, Felicia discovers the fleeting nature of fame and that people cheer when their heroes stumble on their feet of clay.

 

 

 

 

Art

As Felicia clasps her hands behind her head, the white fur falling from her arms merges with her white hair to form a blunted star. Gleb Melnikov contrasts Felicia’s appeals with Shari’s resistance to her charms with close-ups. A splash page shows the crowd of journalists anxious to record her capture with their phones and cameras. Felicia looks shaken and doesn't turn away from the camera as she protests her innocence. But her fear turns to anger when J Jonah Jameson gives her the pity she sought from Shari Sebbins. Her angry response makes clear that Felicia doesn't appreciate his I told you so expression.

 

Brian Reber dresses the staunch newsmaker in a brown trenchcoat, evoking the days he converted trees into defamatory Spider-Man headlines on newsprint. As a preserver of society, Shari Sebbens wears an amber coat. After the police pull her away from the crowd gathered before orange-and-red buildings, they cage Felicia with some of the criminals she has recently foiled. While some sport bright colors, others share her black and white dress sense. But when a friend comes to her aid, Felicia contemplates her journey in a red-and-orange setting that evokes a train car in Black Cat #5.

 

 

 

 

Joe Caramagna shows Felicia’s thoughts as white uppercase letters in black boxes. Black uppercase dialogue fills white balloons, while Felicia’s interpretation of a fellow prisoner’s responses accompanies a cat symbol in a box. The letters grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and shrink for lowered voices. Sound effects accompany fighting and dismay as Felicia’s streetcar pulls into a station named Deliberation, freeing Black Cat to contemplate where she will travel next. Thanks to Marvel Comics and Comic Book Dispatch for providing a review copy.

 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Felicia Hardy has always pursued the next shiny prize over preserving the relationships that give life meaning. But when she’s down and out, the friend she played a terrible trick on lends Felicia the support she doesn’t deserve in Black Cat #5.

 

Rating 9.6/10