Felicia Hardy and Frank Castle walk into a monster fight…
There are awkward team-ups, and then there is Black Cat and the Punisher being forced to cooperate while a building-sized interdimensional rat tries to eat them.
That is essentially the wonderfully ridiculous starting point of Black Cat #13, “Fatalism,” written by G. Willow Wilson, with art by Andrés Genolet and colors by Brian Reber. The issue picks up after Felicia’s return to her old habits landed her directly in Frank Castle’s crosshairs—only for a considerably larger problem to interrupt their argument.
And you know what?
Maybe giant monsters really are good for conflict resolution.
PROS
The best thing about this issue is easily Felicia and Frank’s chemistry.
Not romantic chemistry—let’s make that very clear before Punisher kicks my door down.
I mean the wonderfully hostile, “I absolutely cannot stand you but unfortunately you are useful” kind.
The opening pages immediately establish that dynamic. Neither knows exactly what the enormous creature is, neither really knows how to defeat it, and Felicia initially wonders whether maybe they don’t have to fight it at all.
The monster responds by roaring.
Diplomacy has failed.
What follows is a very fun action sequence because Felicia and Frank approach danger in completely opposite ways. Frank has modified firearms, tactical instincts and the personality of an angry parking ticket. Felicia has agility, improvisation and the confidence to literally climb onto the creature’s face and tell it to stop frightening the seagulls.
Naturally, it throws her through the air.
Frank catches her. Felicia later saves Frank when both get dragged underwater.
Suddenly the enemy of my enemy situation becomes slightly less theoretical.
I especially like that Wilson doesn’t suddenly make these two best friends. Frank remains Frank. Felicia openly admits she doesn’t like his attitude, methods or facial expression—which is an impressively comprehensive rejection of the Punisher experience—but she also recognizes that having him around during a monster attack is pretty useful.
Likewise, Frank doesn’t magically approve of Felicia.
They simply arrive at something resembling mutual respect.
For these two, that practically counts as a hug.
The quieter beach conversation afterward is actually the strongest section of the issue. Felicia admits that maybe being so different doesn’t matter as much as she thought. There’s a brief moment where both seem to recognize that beneath all the moral disagreement, they’ve managed to keep each other alive.
Then Singularity arrives.
Because apparently this issue wasn’t weird enough yet.
Her appearance gives us the explanation for our enormous guest: it’s a Void Rat that slipped through a crack connecting to the Negative Zone, one created during Felicia’s earlier adventure with Mary Jane. Even better, Singularity explains that the little Void Rats don’t actually die—they respawn.
Felicia’s face basically says everything.
Great. Interdimensional immortal rodents.
Tuesday.
Singularity also gives us one of the funniest exchanges in the issue when Felicia starts wondering whether Frank is somehow immune to her bad luck. The answer isn’t particularly helpful, but it plants an interesting idea: maybe Felicia has been assuming her powers determine more of her life than they actually do.
That leads nicely into the ending.
Felicia follows Frank to the veterinary clinic to check on the dog she accidentally hit earlier, and this is exactly the kind of tiny character beat I enjoy in this series. Frank doesn’t suddenly forgive her. Felicia doesn’t suddenly become Saint Felicia of Manhattan.
But the dog?
The dog is considerably more generous.
One lick later, Felicia looks genuinely delighted.
Turns out she can rob museums, fight Punisher and survive cosmic rodents…
…but apparently canine forgiveness is what finally breaks her defenses.
CONS
My one issue is that the enormous Void Rat feels a little like the universe’s most elaborate couples counselor.
It arrives, forces Felicia and Frank to cooperate, nearly kills them, and then essentially exits once they have learned today’s lesson about teamwork.
I almost wanted the creature to stick around long enough to invoice them for the session.
Singularity’s arrival also solves the mystery rather quickly. She’s fun, but she basically floats in, explains the cosmic nonsense, tidies up the dimensional housekeeping and leaves. Convenient? Absolutely.
Adorable?
Also absolutely.
FINAL GRADE: B++ FOR BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!
Black Cat #13 is a fun transitional issue that succeeds because it understands something simple:
Felicia Hardy and Frank Castle are hilarious together.
They don’t need to agree. They probably shouldn’t agree. The entertainment comes from watching two people with completely different moral compasses reluctantly discover that the other isn’t entirely useless.
Throw in a gigantic Void Rat, Singularity, some very questionable monster-fighting strategies and one forgiving dog, and you’ve got another charmingly strange chapter in Felicia’s current run.
And next?
QUEEN IN BLACK.
Oh boy.
Something tells me the giant space rat was the easy part.
