Patsy was a child star. Now, she’s being picked up by the police. It happens. So much pressure on someone so young. Typically, the pressure hits its big climax with a drunken night of partying or some kind of drug overdose. Things are a little more complicated for Patsy. She’s been apprehended for suspected murder in Hellcat #1. Writer Christopher Cantwell opens up a five-part mini-series with artist Alex Lins and colorist K.J. Díaz. The opening issue shows some promise, but Cantwell and company will have to intensify the complexity of the story if it’s going to be a memorable encounter with Hellcat.

The police have a masked vigilante in handcuffs in their squad car. She tells them that she didn’t kill anybody. They ask her if she’s sure about that. She tells them that she doesn’t know. They feel the need to explain her Miranda rights, but she’s well aware of them. She’s trying to get to the bottom of things as well, and she wants to be as honest about everything as she can be. It’s all a bit of a wash in her mind as things move around in her memory.

Cantwell is opening the series in uncertainty. This can be a hell of a lot of fun in the early going of any serial, but Patsy’s uncertainty doesn’t quite hit the page in a way that’s terribly compelling. The first few pages of the five-part series don’t manage to register much of an effect as the story continues to establish itself. The drama is clearly there, but there isn’t much in it that feels like it’s establishing enough momentum to make it all the way through the first issue, let alone anywhere near the kind of dramatic energy that it’s going to need to make it through the next four issues. 

Lins and Díaz have a clear handle on the darkness. There’s a grittiness to the page that is suitably shadowy, with action hitting at odd angles. There’s quite a lot of blood on the page as well. Díaz coats the page in a richly muted color pallet that feels every bit as murky as it needs to be to stay true to the script, but it feels like such a heavy slog. The best darkness electrifies the page. Lins and Díaz’s work lingers moodily as the story slowly slinks through its opening chapter.

A vigilante hero being brought in by the police...it’s a concept with a lot of potential. It’s too bad Cantwell didn’t really know where to go with it. Cantwell’s interpretation of Patsy is not without its strength. It needs to hit the page with more impact as the series progresses if it’s going to elevate at all. With everything firmly established in the first issue, it’s inevitable that Cantwell and company will manage something much more interesting than they’ve opened the series with. 

Grade: C