Spider-Man: Black Cat

Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #1-4

by Jen Van Meter, Amanda Conner (Cover Art), Javier Pulido (Artist)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #1-4, and material from The Many Loves of the Amazing Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man #612.

The Cat is B(l)ack in her own series and it's international intrigue at its sexiest by Jen Van Meter (Hopeless Savages, JSA) and Javier Pulido (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN). As Spider-Man is stalked during the Grim Hunt, the world's slyest, smartest and sneakiest jewel thief's latest heist puts the Black Cat face-to-face with the family that has been terrorizing Spider-Man's dreams and threatening those closest to him!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Spider Man, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Ebooks

125 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 12, 2011

Reviews

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not overly familiar with the Black Cat (I've always preferred Catwoman myself), but if all her stories are like this, that's something I should remedy. The main story in this volume features Felicia getting set up and hunting down Russian artifacts, and works like a well-crafted heist movie, complete with back-stabbing, false clues, and a great final sequence. Hardy gets a lot of moments to show off her smarts, and a few thefts, and some great interactions with Spider-Man (without him ever stealing the spotlight from her story). There are also two shorts to pad the book out; both are more Spidey-centric, although Black Cat gets some great moments in a very funny story 'The Root of All Annoyance.' The Other Woman, which finishes out the collection, is much weaker.
The art throughout is workmanlike, enjoyable without being over-the-top. But the stories are top of the line here, and I'd strongly recommend this to anyone who likes female protagonists and heist stories, whether they know Black Cat or not. It's a lot of fun, which is what comics like this should aspire to.

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of some Spider-man/Black Cat stories. Not bad story wise but I found the art pretty lacking, ranging from passable to 'should never have seen the light of day'. For the story with the bad art I don't see how anyone would actually pay for this. Maybe this is why it was available for free from Amazon Prime Reading. However, cut the last story and it would be okay.

After all the Spider Man films I find it a bit strange that Black Cat hasn't featured in any of them. Their superheroes with benefits, on again/off again romance, would make a great sub-plot for a movie.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this through Prime Reading. Totally forgot this was a feature that exists.

But I really enjoyed this one, it was such a fun read even though I never read anything about Black Cat before. So without knowing much about her and her backstory (I don't know much more after reading this to be honest), but she is a fun character, love her attitude!!!

[bri 🧸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

black cat said steal and be sexi <3

[Robert Bussie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is this so average to below average. It has three stories. The main story from "Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #1-4" has an average story that is boring is spots. The art work is below average; the coloring is below average with no changes in tones or hues.

The last story from "Amazing Spider-Man #612 is just terrible. The story 8 pages of shallow ramblings about the loves of Peter Parker/spider-man with just terrible art work. Even the lettering is terrible. And again, wow, the art work sucks!

The middle story has a story from "The Many Loves of Amazing Spider-Man." It is actually really good. It is a funny story with great art work.

The cover price on this trade is $16.99. I spent $4.00 on it at comic con and I am soooo happy that I did not pay full price. This one is being donated to my library. Maybe someone will find it interesting. As for me, Nope

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting character... and of course, I love Spiderman.

Finished all four of this little series and I'm sad they are over. Just loved her... and I would love to know more of her story. It looks like I might have to start reading Spiderman to find out.

[Diz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't that good. The villain is pretty dull, and the art was uneven. Some panels were very attractive, but others displayed bizarre depictions of anatomy that defied logic.

[wellreadkait · Rating 5 out of 5]

He’s a decent guy in a funny looking suit !

[Gav451 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Fun

A good old fashioned hero romp. Not world ending, the baddie was
not unbeatable and there was no reset at the end.

This effectively is a caper story that is nicely told and well illustrated.

There was some back story I was not aware of but it did not intrude on my enjoyment of the book. The art was variable from brilliant to good but it never took me out of the story.

I liked the writing style. There was wit to these tales. The vignettes at the close of the book were lovely little peeks into smaller stories and moments.

I left this feeling the warmth and the charm. This is a happy read.

[danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

the art could have been better tbh

[Ma]

They did a good job of making her both a sexy lady dressed in leather and fur and also a human person with emotions and thoughts and life. Comic writers do not always know about the second thing I said being important, so kudos. Was a nice read. Nothing life changing, but nice.

[Caahpinotti ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

a única coisa que realmente salvou foi a arte – as cores, principalmente.
de qualquer forma, a história foi ok, o vilão meio dull.
2,5

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jen Van Meter outs the spotlight on famous jewel thief Black Cat in this Spider-Man miniseries. Framed for a murder committed during a smash-and-grab heist, Black Cat is out to uncover the truth behind the set-up. Drawn into a search for Russian heirlooms that leads to the doorstep of the Kravinoff family, Felicia must pull out all the stops to rescue her mother, protect her crew, and demonstrate why no one messes with the Black Cat. While the opening issue of the volume does fall into the trap of information overload, the rest of the collection demonstrates a fantastic look at the workings of Felicia Hardy. The crew of fashion assistants, gadgeteers, ID forgers, and fences provides a rich supporting cast that begs for more action. Felicia's use of smarts and sexiness are played to the hilt by both Van Meter and artist Javier Pulido. Two codas featuring Spider-Man and Black Cat crossing paths offer engaging and humorous takes on their relationship dynamic. Despite being embroiled in the Grim Hunt event, this graphic novel demonstrates how Black Cat should be utilized within the Marvel Universe. Steal a glance or two at this collection and find out for yourself.

[Alyssa Greatbanks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now, the Black Cat is my favorite superhero. So I got really excited when she was getting a new comic. But seriously, this one sucked, HARD. It looked like they rushed all the art (except the covers), or just plain got someone who didn't know what they were doing. In more then half the panels Black Cat either looked anorexic or constipated, and that's not a very good quality for a Superhero. The story was okay, could have been better.

The only thing that saved this was the 'The Many Loves of The Amazing Spider-Man: The Root of All Annoyance" story. That one had great art, and a very entertaining story. I wouldn't hesitate to buy that one separate.

[Paul Hasbrouck · Rating 3 out of 5]

To save her mother, The Black Cat and her team must pull off series of heists. Each heist will bring her closer to the estate of The Kraven family, that kill crazy enemies of Spider-man and her mom.
Nice fun read.

[Allen Setzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Black Cat and her stories and interactions with Spider-Man are always Enjoyable.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great covers by Conner, great interior art by Pulido, et. al., and color art by Hollingsworth.
This is a caper story; not too deep, well told.
Recommended.

[Mer Mayhem · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Tacitus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, if light, exploration of Black Cat.

The first 4 issues focus on Felicia Hardy and her crew, but I never got a clear sense why she and they were doing all this. Money, I suppose, but some of her support team put their lives at risk in the course of events, so that made me wonder about their motives.

Felicia's mom is also kidnapped, and so Black Cat's identity exposed. None of this seems to give Felicia much pause, even though her mom's life was put at risk and her life upended by having to change identities. While the dialogue was generally good, there's also a lot of cell phone talking and texting, which just seems odd given that they're a team of high-end thieves.

The latter two Spiderman stories deal better with the moral complexities of Felicia existence in relationship to Peter. That these issues work when Spidey is the focus makes me wonder if Black Cat can step out of his shadow and become something more than just his moral foil, or one of his love interests.

[Annemarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more of this. This volume consists of three stories that get progressively shorter.
The main story was pretty boring imo. There was barely any spiderman, which I thought was weird for a Spiderman/black cat edition. I did like Black Cat, but I already knew that. The art was not the best, but not awful.
The second story was fun and cute. I actually liked that one quite a bit. It had a better Spiderman/Black Cat distribution (lol) and although simple, it was enjoyable. It also had the best art of the volume, if sometimes a bit overly sexualized for my taste.
The last story was pretty awful. The art was... a choice, I guess. Not my cup of tea at all. The plot was non-existent and was basically a short rambling in which Spiderman sorta but not really questions his FWB relationship with Black Cat. Nothing happened and it didn't go anywhere, so it felt like a completely pointless filler that was quickly added on just to make it longer. The worst way to end this volume tbh.

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adventure which focuses more on Black Cat than Spider-Man, although he is around for some comedy and dialogue (not so much action, but that's fine). The chemistry between Cat and Spider is good, and one of the subplots which I found most entertaining to see unfold. The story with the Kravinoffs seems to take place in between something that happened in the main Spider-Man book, but which I didn't read. Nevertheless, this didn't stop me in any way from understanding and enjoying this story. Dialogue takes a bit of getting used to in the first couple of pages, but I got used to it shortly.
There's some interesting art from Javier Pulido (not my favourite style, but I think he made it work for the most part). There's a bonus issue about Spider-Man's money troubles from way back, which is a lot of fun.

An enjoyable book overall, good fun all around.

[DúviAurvandil Ericsson e Pereira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah(ck) Cat and Spiduuuuuuhhhh-man

Pretty boring, and I don’t like Spider-Man having sleeping around like he hasn’t always been a romantic and the most loyal steadfast superhero in Marvel history. It would have been more interesting to see Cat be the one questioning her actions and trying to be a better animal. The Kravens could have also been more more involved to make it more interesting — Cat vs Cougar, Purr vs Panther, Feline vs Furrier — this would have made the help of Felicia’s friends feel more necessary. The final tagged-on story of Parker tripping over his lust had terrible artwork and when even in the timeline is it supposed to be? He’s acting like a teen just going through puberty.

[Vikas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice graphic novel covering a four-issue story arc for Blackcat and then two short stories with different art styles. Even during the main story arc, the art was up and down but still enjoyable and I liked it, so let's go on and Keep on Reading.

I have always loved comics, and I have I can. I love comics to bits, may the comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and hope always to love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I just want to Keep on Reading.

[James Rodrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the lead-up to Grim Hunt, this mini-series focuses on Black Cat as she crosses paths with the Kravinoff family. It's a tightly told tale with entertaining twists and turns, as the best heist tales would have, along with a supporting cast I'd happily see more of. Accompanying are two standalone tales highlighting the Black Cat/Spider-Man romance. The first is a cute tale of the two going up against a villain who recently learned magic, with a focus on the financial woes, although Cat appears in a supporting capacity. The second story teases their secret identities, while reaching nowhere of consequence and being beset by dreadful artwork. Overall, a solid volume.

[MCitizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid B+

Great stories, for the most part. Art was good for the most part too. The last story looked like a 6th grader learning how to draw did it. I understand its a style and that some folks may like it. Not everyone likes anti-heroes, I didn't like the anti-artists. (Grade F)

The bank robbery story bothers me. They never fixed spider's issue with the loot. The route they went to try and fix it was dumb. He knows a doctor that would have handled that. (Spoiler free as much as I csn). Still a decent filler. (Grade: C)

The rest was good. Though it reminded me of the CW and how every hero has a team to help them be a hero. Which is funny and sad all at once. A-

[April Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories presented in this volume aren’t bad and I loved it that Spider-Man was around for most of them. The bad thing, though, was the artwork throughout most of this volume. I was feeling it for the main Black Cat story, and then the artwork became absolutely awful in the last story.

One little quibble, too. I know the character goes back several decades, but it’s seriously time to leave her bad luck in the past. All it does is further perpetuate the stigma on black cats. They don’t give you bad luck.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes it is

The story that keeps you captivated, sometimes it is the art. And sometimes it is the work you can tell was out into the story.
Well with this one, it wasn't the story, or the art or the work, at least for me. The story was flat and the art jumped everywhere. One moment it was the black cat I had always known and then two panels later I had to double check to make sure it was still her.

If you are a BC fan, then this might be for you.

[Montana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

The main story was OKish, the art wasn't great. I thought this would be a good place to introduce me to the black cat and I learnt a little about her, but I wouldn't say her character particularly shined in this. The middle story was brilliant, felicia actually came across more as a fun and interesting character in that little story (told in Peter's pov) than her main one, and the art was great, wish the rest of it had been like that!

[Jose · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a story about a master thief, this was painfully boring. The art was flat and barebones, doing enough to let you know what is happening but nothing beyond it. Text was too frequent and made the story tough to slog through.

If you’re looking for a Black Cat-centric book, I would advise you look at the 2019 ongoing series. It does a much better job of telling an exciting Black Cat story.

[Ari Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Cat in the Spider Hat

Always love when Black Cat comes around and this is no exception. But, this time she doesn't play second fiddle to Spidey, she is the lead and it's done so well. Enjoy the many complicated loves of Peter Parker and Spidey Man.