Do cats and spiders mix?
While patrolling the city on one of his web-slinging sessions, a pretty girl swinging through the neighborhood herself causes Spider-man's danger sense to go off. Curious as to how come she set it off, as well as being extremely attractive. Spider-man follows her to a gun transaction. A battle begins and the girl reveals herself as the Black Cat. She escapes the battle, but Spider-man soon figures out her plan and decides on stopping her, no matter how interested he is in her. -summary
Spider-man has always been one of the more interesting characters in comics. He acquired his powers during his teens and took up a crime fighting career as a solo superhero, during the time when all teenage heroes were nothing more than mere sidekicks. He was forced to teach himself the ropes through trial and error. His rogues gallery was another interesting aspect, that boasts the most versatile line up in comics for a single superhero. Power wise, Spider-man has fought against everyone. However, the women involved in Spider-man's life is nothing to ignore. Before his marriage to Mary-Jane Watson, he knew tragedy with the death of Gwen Stacy, and he's just plain had his ups and downs with women. But never before did he encounter a would-be criminal who captured his heart from the very beginning. This woman named the Black Cat had ensnared Spider-man's soul, and used this to her favor several times. This graphic novel tells their first encounter presenting the first appearance of the Black Cat, along with each of their earliest encounters.
Spider-man vs. Black Cat collects The Amazing Spider-man issues 194 -195, 204-205, and 226-227. The stories are written by Marv Wolfman, David Michelinie, and Roger Stern. The stories are very fun to read, and along with their budding relationship, the Black cat is very well developed. She has some amazing physical abilities that are on the level of the best gymnast. But her crafty personality seems to be her best weapon as she outwits Spider-man constantly. I enjoy the storytelling here, with the way Spider-man's emotions are played with, which sets up his losses against her. I thought it was a great move going for his heart, since there's no physical way Black Cat should beat him. Spider-man even mentions how much easier it would be to take her down if she was short, fat, and ugly.
The first two stories focuses on the Cat putting together a gang to break someone out of prison. The later stories see her carrying on the family legacy as a cat burglar. And finally, she actually considers going straight because she's actually fallen for Spider-man. He isn't left out the equation, since he deals with all his other personal problems that have nothing to do with superheroing. But the most interesting part is with the internal debate; should he help her go straight or should he bring her in? This plays a big role in his performance against her.
The action is pretty good here, but don't come into this expecting high octane battles. There's this playful little feud going on between the two, and it kept me interested. There are also several shoot outs as they mix it up with the mafia. The artwork by Keith Pollard, Pablo Marcos, and John Romita Jr. have this dated look to them a little, and the female characters like the Cat and even Jean Dewolfe aren't exactly bursting with that over the top sex appeal. Still, I can't consider it to be bad. The book is also easy to read since the panels and dialogue bubbles are well placed. In the end of the book is a complete bio on the Black Cat.
The problem with this book happens to be the usual problem with all books of this manner. There are subplots and future storylines being developed, and they're all left wide open since this particular book is following a specific tale. There's a new development concerning Aunt May, that helps set up the Spider-man milestone, Return of the Burglar, which is left completely open and that's a shame too. For those who don't know, this story features the man who killed Spider-man's uncle Ben. I really wish these publishers would add these important arcs instead of just sticking to one thing.
Overall, Spider-man vs. Black Cat is a good read, and if you're a fan of both characters then even better. However, I wouldn't recommend this to those searching for some serious action, like you would find in the pages of The Birth of Venom, or even Hobgoblin Lives. This is just one of those fun light-hearted tales. The book is 123 pages.
Pros: Characters and stories
Cons: Major storylines not included, may not appeal to serious action fan