Giant-Size Black Cat #1 Infinity Score

Giant-Size Black Cat #1 Infinity Score

Marvel Comics 2021

Written by Jed MacKay

Illustrated by C.F. Villa

Coloured by Brian Reber

Lettered by Ferran Delgado

This is it, the grand climax to INFINITE DESTINIES and INFINITY SCORE and the totality of Black Cat from the past two years, all in this oversize special! Black Cat has brought half of the Infinity Stones together, collecting a level of power that hasn’t been seen in years! But to what end? This hasn’t taken her out of the crosshairs of Nick Fury OR Nighthawk and with the Infinity Stones involved, can Thanos be far behind?!

Can I just say that this is why I love Jed’s writing! This is what a thief is all about and while the subject matter is decidedly real world it would be easy to see a Dungeons & Dragons story set along a similar path and you’d never notice the difference. This is also why I have adored the series since it debuted. Felicia is truly a one-of-a-kind character and she’s that proverbial breath of fresh air that brightens up your day every single time you read one of her capers. All things being what they are, she's the most honest character as well as she makes no bones about who she is and what she does even if she’s fighting on the side of the angels--so long as it benefits her.

I adore the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter which does a magnificent job continuing to flesh out their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we are amazed by the twists & turns along the way.

I am thoroughly enjoying the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking the way that these layers open up new avenues to be explored. Whether that’s with Nick Fury, Star or anyone else we see is open to debate. What this does is add some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably handled.

I’m actually rather quite fond of the interiors here. The linework is exceptional and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see is extraordinary. How we see backgrounds expand and enhance the moments as well as how we see them work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.

Now since we see it here I would love to have her relationship with Odessa explored further. I like the idea that Felicia doesn’t discriminate when it comes to sexual partners and so long as it feels good in the moment male or female, it's all good to her. With some smart, intelligent writing and strong witty characterisation wrapped up in these wonderful interiors I just can’t get enough of the Black Cat!