Marvel’s Best Origin Story is The One Fans Don’t Even Know

The Black Cat’s first caper was one of a highly personal nature, and is one of Marvel’s best as it perfectly demonstrated the moral grey areas that would become a hallmark of the character. Black Cat made her unforgettable debut in 1979’s Amazing Spider-Man #194-195, and she has been a major presence in the life of the Wall-Crawler ever since.

Created by the legendary team of Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum, the Black Cat is Felicia Hardy, a world-class cat burglar, and an occasional love interest for Spider-Man. Later, the Kingpin experimented on Black Cat—the result of which gave her the ability to manipulate probability in her favor, which often gave the appearance of “bad luck” for those she fought. Black Cat is possessed of a notoriously ambiguous moral code—she will do the right things, but usually for the wrong reasons; she also will use illegal tactics to get what she wants. The character has been a perennial fan-favorite, and in 2019 was awarded her first ongoing solo book, which has helped the character achieve even greater heights; so much of what makes Black Cat a great character was on display in her first appearance.

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When her debut issue opens, Black Cat is inaugurating her career by breaking into, oddly enough, a police station—a fact she notes. All she steals are some files, but she then switches gears, finding two goons robbing a truck. She asks them, as well as safe-cracker Boris Korpse, to join her. The next day, she proceeds to buy a large cache of guns from a notorious crime lord—which brings her into conflict with Spider-Man. Readers learn that the files Black Cat stole earlier from the police contain information on a man named Walter Hardy. Spider-Man struggles to connect the dots, and he (and readers) learn that Walter is Black Cat’s father. Once a burglar like her, Walter was framed and imprisoned, and Black Cat’s scheme was to spring him out of prison, using the guns and the talents of the men she recruited. Black Cat was successful in breaking out her father, although she appears to die at the story’s end.

Readers of course know Black Cat survived and would go on to become a popular supporting character, and so much of what made her great can be seen here. Black Cat wants to do something that is highly illegal—break her criminal father out of prison. She employs known criminals to help her and uses illegally purchased firearms as well; but she wishes to free her father out of love. Black Cat also takes steps to ensure no one gets killed during the break-out and expresses true regret when Spider-Man is knocked unconscious. She also flirts with Spider-Man during the adventure as well, setting the tone for the romantic encounters that were to come.

The Black Cat’s first caper was a highly personal one, and showed, right out of the gate, why she would go on to become one of Spider-Man’s most popular supporting characters.

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