Avengers #23 //Review
Felicia had been contacted by a time traveler. Really. For a lot of people this might feel like a bit if a weird occurrence, but Felicia is a thief who has been through quite a lot including direct dealings with the actual devil and a whole lot else. Felicia is given an offer she can’t refuse in Avengers #23. Writer Jed MacKay takes a long look at a couple of villains in and around the edges of an enjoyable action story that is brought to page and panel by artist Farid Karamai and colorist Federico Blee. McKay’s clever connection with Black Cat livens-up another fun issue.
Kang could go anywhere. He could do anything. So why is he asking for help from Felicia Hardy? He can move back and forth from one end of time to the other. So why is he asking for the Black Cat’s help? She’s a thief and he’s someone that would be very dangerous for ANYONE to work with. So why would she take an offer from someone so potentially volatile? There’s something about the challenge of going on a heist that involves tangling with the. Avengers. But there’s also something more to gain from it.
MacKay was always so sharp about rendering stories for Black Cat back when she has her own comic book. Though she remains a remarkably interesting character as she tangles with the Avengers, the overall plot lacks the level of sophistication that would make this particular issue as engaging as any of the stories that the author had come up with for her solo title. And though the story does examine aspects of the characters personality in great detail, it doesn't really do so in a way that really engages the team that she's up against. And so it feels like kind of a weak crossover that really could fit better in with solo adventure for Black Cat.
Gatecrasher also shows-up with her Technet. The villain in question had been co-created by Alan Davis, who has such a distinctive style of rendering. It would be difficult for nay artist to match Davis’ draughtsmanship, but Karama does a pretty good job of delivering th action to the page as Black Cat and Kang sink around the edges of everything. There are some powerfully-framed panels in the issue including a couple of strikingly well-composed moments with Kang framed rather dramtically. There are a couple of different moments when the heroes are summoned to look larger than life by simply towering over their opponents. This might feel a bit overdone twice in a single issue, but it’s particularly effective.
It’s too bad MacKay couldn’t have kept rolling with the Black Cat in her own title. This storyline with her against the Avengers feels like a relatively weak echo back to something that had a bit more of a fresh feel about it that was substantially more interstig on a few different levels. That being said, it IS cool to mix Kang and Felicia into the same side of the stage.
