Black Cat #7: Butterfly Kisses

We pick up with Cat finding the Fox on a bench outside of Coney Island to discuss their feelings on the Fox dooming everyone on Manhattan Island to obtain immortality for him and the Cat. There’s very little action going on here, but it’s a very good introspective issue, delving into Fox, and his motivations for doing what he did. He did what he did, because Fox does what he always does—looks out for his own interests. Writer Jed Mackay really gets Felicia, and this issue shows just how much he does. She’s an amoral character, who isn’t a hero, but definitely has a code by which she lives.

Jed’s development of the relationship between Fox and the Cat is a very touching, and loving relationship. You can see how much Felicia cares for the Fox, and vice versa. I’m sure we’ll be able to get some mileage out of it, considering how Jed’s been building up to this moment between the two. I’ve always loved the Black Fox, and his shenanigans, but Jed’s made my love a bit deeper for the character since he launched Felicia’s book back in ‘19. 

We also have a very interesting development in the relationship between Cat and Odessa Drake. What can we expect from this new status quo? Who knows. It’s a pairing that could lead these two adversaries into adventures filled with lots of drama and fun antics to come. I’m trying to be as enigmatic about it as I can, but it’s a development that arrives just in time for Pride Month! Don’t spoil yourself, just pick the book up. 

Michael Dowling returns for art duties on this issue, and I definitely enjoy this issue more than the last. It might be because it’s a slow issue, focusing on emotions, betrayal, and things of that nature, but his work really shines this issue. Add Brian Reber’s more muted palette here compared to the more action heavy issues, it really fits the mood and atmosphere the book is trying to convey. He put out a very solid finale to this tale. 

Unfortunately this issue does have a few (very few) wrinkles. Considering Mackay has been building up to this story since the very first issue of the last series, I was a little let down by how… slow this issue was. It almost felt like an arc intended to be filler before we begin our big Infinity Gem crossover storyline taking place over several Marvel annuals this summer, before finally finishing off here. If that’s the case, I feel the fans and myself have been cheated out of something that could have been bigger. This being comics, I’m sure Jed will come back to it at some point. There’s so much left unsaid that this can’t be the end.