Traditionally, whenever Marvel gets a breakout hit, they immediately try to milk--er, capitalize on it, usually by adding a spin-off or ancilliary book. That's how we get stuff like
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty or
Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda or
Fantastic Force and usually the heat dies down pretty quick. The recent
Black Cat book is pretty good, probably the least surprising surprise hit ever, and I would not be at all surprised if Marvel was getting another title lined up for her. She just had a
guest-spot in Fantastic Four, and recently guested in
Avengers as well: from 2025,
Avengers #23/LEG #789, "The Casino Job, part 2" Written by Jed MacKay, art by Farid Karami. Cover by Valerio Schiti.
This title's current ongoing plot involved something called the "Missing Moment," and the Avengers were trying to get a MacGuffin, a data file of Kang's, from the Grandmaster's casino. Some of the team, notably Storm and the Scarlet Witch, seem to be having fun with the idea of a heist or a caper, and it goes flawlessly...until they find the file already stolen, by Kang, the Black Cat, and one of the greatest thieves ever...Walter Hardy! Kang and the Cat lead the Avengers on a chase through the casino, that's pretty obviously a feint; and the story is interspersed with flashbacks of Kang recruiting Felicia, including taking her back to right before the dinosaurs were wiped out, to make a point of what they were up against. But, they've also hired some muscle: the Technet! Love to see those doofuses again. Felicia and Kang's pitch is amusing as well: sure, the Avengers are tough, but they wouldn't kill you, so easy money, right? Okay, maybe you take a
few lumps, but...
While the Technet are "possessed of myriad bizarre gifts...chief among them being sheer aggravation" they're at best only going to slow the Avengers down: Joyboy does turn Iron Man into his "
deepest wish," namely, Captain America! Tony is mortified, but the rest of the team largely no-sells the Technet: Thug and Ferro² never had a chance against the Vision, and Wanda nopes Scatterbrain's power--unfair! Kang and Felicia are cornered, and Tony lectures her a bit, but she wasn't doing this for money: she did things for the experience, and wanted to work with her daddy, Walter. Who was long gone with the data file. Which was the cue, for Kang to revert to type: he had seemed relatively friendly and almost charming with Felicia, but now it was time for his fleet to destroy the Grandmaster's "speculatorium" casino and the Avengers! All of which is being watched by the Grandmaster and mysterious baddie Myrddin, who have some bet on this: somehow Myrddin is less surprised by this heelturn; the Grandmaster should know Kang is a dick.
Like that
Immortal Thor issue the other day, this was one of a smattering of pretty recent Marvel books fished out of the cheap bins, but I did get all of the Black Cat arc; which I'm not sure moved the Avengers' plot forward a ton but was a solid showcase for her. I do feel like the Black Panther wasn't included here, because he would've seen through the diversion immediately. Still, it's a pretty heavy-hitting Avengers lineup: a lot of their issues that I've read lately have felt a lot like Grant Morrison-Howard Porter era
JLA.
1 comment:
Well good for Felicia. It’s about time she got to feature in an Avengers story after how many years of existence? Plus this story seems to be playing to her strengths as a character and her unique skill set. So definitely good for her. Plus I’m liking the brief partnership with Kang; sure it was doomed from the start and would’ve always been temporary at best, but the more I think about it, the more that unlikely pairing had promise as far future stories go.
And McKay definitely deserves props for bringing back Technet after too many years of absences in the MU. Hopefully this isn’t a one-off until some other writer randomly brings them back after 15-20 years.
Wait, so being Captain America is Tony’s deepest, darkest secret desire? Huh. I mean I guess it kinda makes sense? I’d like to see that new development expanded upon further but I’m not so sure other writers will do that from here on out. Shame, because I’d like to see Cap’s take on that.
Hey, comparing anything to the wonderful run of JLA that Morrison/Porter had is certainly high praise knowing how high the bar was for that duo. That particular run still holds up today almost 30 years later & damn does that make me feel old(er) realizing that’s how long it’s been since then.
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