This is from "Spectacular Spider-Man" issue 84. I choose this scene because in the comment section of my last post people were talking about the difference in how Felicia looked in the comics and 90’s series. One person speculated they intended for her to be Gwen. My theory is whoever did the animation designs saw this pic of Felicia and modeled the cartoon version that way. I think she looks like the cartoon here.
Owned.
In this Spider-Memory we look at Transformers #3. This was released in 1984 and features Spidey freshly returned from the Secret Wars and still has the symbiote suit.
This is from issue 156 of “Amazing Spider-Man”. The retcon in “Parallel Lives” said MJ knew from the start. If she knew from the start, then she is being a massive jerk here.
on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (Non-Legacy #36): “Ravaged” or “Well, At Least We Have These Backups”: “@Paul Penna: I wouldn’t say I was liking Cormac before the Ravage reveal but his character was … “ok”. I…” Oct 4, 08:59
on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (Non-Legacy #36): “Ravaged” or “Well, At Least We Have These Backups”: “I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed Cormac Crane/Ravage. The story is well written, his powers are interesting and he…” Oct 3, 16:27 on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (Non-Legacy #36): “Ravaged” or “Well, At Least We Have These Backups”: “@Big John: Yeah, an annual is a good comparison. Annuals used to have one big story and 1-2 backups, and…” Oct 2, 22:20
on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 (Non-Legacy #36): “Ravaged” or “Well, At Least We Have These Backups”: “This was a glorified Annual with A-List talent on the back-ups. And you know, if it was “only” an Annual,…” Oct 2, 18:09
on Marco Speaks Spidey: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 – “Ravaged” Review: “When a creative team runs out of meaningful stories to tell about a character’s future, they inevitably start digging up…” Sep 30, 16:11
on Spider-Variants of the Week 9/30/26: “Who’s getting all the ASM covers? You’d need to take out a loan. Thanks Mohammed for the work you do…” Sep 28, 23:55 on Marco Speaks Spidey- Challenges of Doom: Spider-Man #1 Review: ““takes us back years for the previously untold first encounter between Peter Parker and Victor von Doom.” Wait, I thought…” Sep 10, 09:24
on The Top Ten Most Wanted Spider-Man 1967 Figures: “I hope we get more toys from that cartoon.” Sep 8, 19:52 on Marco Speaks Spidey: What If…? Jessica Jones #1 Review: ““Instead, Jessica’s Spider-Girl career helped make Peter’s career as a reporter.” This is a problem I have with a lot…” Sep 4, 06:03 on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #35 (Legacy #999): “Gwen Gone Wild” or “Stroke of Bad Luck”: “@Evan Berry: I am on record as enjoying the Spider-Norman issues much more than the Peter-in-space issues. There was much…” Aug 30, 09:30
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This is exactly what I was talking about. In the ’90’s cartoon, she was yellow blond as Felicia, but platinum blond as the Black Cat. That was explained away as a result of the Super Soldier formula transformation, but I couldn’t find an explanation for that change for the comics… Now I see that it largely depended on who was drawing her. On the bottom panel, she is clearly regular blond, even as Black Cat (and I like how she looks when she is right next to Spidey).
Part of an awesome run in the 80s, good memories, better reading.
To be fair, the Gwen in TSSM is a mish-mash of Lee/Ditko Gwen, Deborah Whitman, and a white Liz Allen, there’s barely anything of the actual Gwen in there, at least from my POV. The FOX Felicia really is just a picture-perfect Lee/Ditko Gwen that Stan intervening THERE didnt seem to make a dent in her characterisation.
A lot about The Black Cat seemed rushed…like they didnt know what to do with her. Tying in with Morbius was a REALLY bad fit. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but wasnt the Darkstalkers cartoon airing around the same time? Felicia with Morbius and the inclusion of Blade may have been to “ape” that series more, it also involved a vampire antagonist and a feline protaganist…though neither got together.
How odd that he met Felicia’s mother and she makes conversation as if he were a normal guy!
Apparently, when the 90’s cartoon was being developed, using Gwen WAS under consideration, but, for the same reason that one of the early Spider-Man movie scripts from the late 80’s/early 90’s used Liz Allan instead of Gwen is because Stan Lee used to protest against using Gwen because anyone who went from the cartoon/movie to the comics would find out that the character had been dead for years, or even decades. Now, whether or not Gwen was the original model in the cartoon series, and then the name of the character was changed to Felicia – or, the change was made before the models were developed – I have no idea. Considering that they adopted the Black Cat appearance as an entirely new look rather than just a costume and mask, maybe it was always intentional that Felicia looked differently than the Black Cat to fool Spidey. And of course, if that’s the case, then how is it that Gwen is being used in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon? Either Stan no longer cares, or no one listens to him anymore, I guess…
(just a clarification I think I should add; Nightwing had a blue/gold costume before his modern one. The more I think of it, the two’s apparel change is quite similar.)
Whoa, I never knew the “sleek” costume wasn’t the one she had in the comics (I thought that the other, almost Nightwing resembling, one was just a temp.) Interesting…