I don´t think it´s going to be a big surprise but now that I have dealt with the solicitations ( in fact it seems I´ve done nothing but solicitations ) let´s get back to the important things : comics and babes. And babes in comics. There are still a few categories left and it´s about time to get this post finished so that I can start on the horror babes. So that I can have the finished horror babes post just in time for Halloween.
But back to the sexy spiderbabes. It took me a long time to decide who should be number one in this category but after a week of contemplation I finally had a winner. So the number one spiderbabe of all time is :
Felicia Hardy a.k.a. Black Cat
Now the reason why the Black Cat is in the number one position has nothing to do with the fact that she´s bi. First off I didn´t know it when I made the decision. I only heard of it through the comments to one of my posts. As far as I know it hasn´t been mentioned in any of the spider - titles I´ve been reading. Or if it has been mentioned I have totally forgotten about it.
And second if she really is then I doubt that we´re ever going to see any hot girl on girl action inside of a Marvel comic for the forseeable future. Come on they had Frank Cho cover up Shanna for Christ´s Sake. And that was the only selling point of that series. So the chances of seeing Pete, MJ and Felicia in steamy FFM action are almost null.
It could be totally fabricated and my position is : if it´s not in wikipedia it´s not official.
One of the factors was the costume ( and I´m not talking about that pirate - abomination costume ).
Being overed from neck to toe in skintight black leather is always a plus. Just ask Black Widow or Catwoman. Although like the last one Felicia´s costume has undergone several modifications. From the different artists who portrayed Marvel´s bodacious catburglar the one who really grasped what it´s all about was Mike Bagley. He gave her the mother of all cleavages and apparently Marvel is abit embarrased by the fact that they allowed it back in the day. Because I really tried to find any picture of it, brother, but for the life of me I couldn´t find it. Hard as it may be to believe in this day and age but the new " Sidney Savage " look of the Black Cat didn´t even make it to the cover.
Now Mark Bagley is still drawing his version of the Black Cat as any reader of Ultimate Spider - Man can attest ( megacleavage and all ) but I had to get some other pics to illustrate this post. I hope that is okay.
Concerning the reasons why Felicia became my number one I used an old trick. I just thought that if I had to delete all the pics of her OR MJ and if I only could keep one set - which would it be ? And just looking at the amount of pics I had of MJ and the amount of pics I had of the Black Cat it was clear. Simple as that.
Like with all the other contestants I´m going to take a look at their history and especially the worst moments and catastrophic retcons. But firstly I have to rectify an old urban legend which is that the Black Cat was made as Marvel´s hommage to Catwoman.
From today´s perspective it seems pretty obvious but nevertheless it´s not true. To quote wikipedia :
In 1979, creator Marv Wolfman was looking for a female foil for Spider-Woman. He decided to base a character off a Tex Avery cartoon "Bad Luck Blackie" in which a black cat brought misfortune to anyone in close proximity. The Black Cat's costume and appearance were designed by the late Dave Cockrum.
When Wolfman changed writing assignments within Marvel Comics to Amazing Spider-Man, he brought his character with him. On the bottom of the letters page of her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #194, a thumbnail of the intended cover for Spider-Woman #9 (as well as a rejected cover for Amazing Spider-Man #194) appears.
The Black Cat is often mistaken as an homage to DC’s Catwoman, as her forename, Felicia, was shared by Catwoman's sister in Brave and the Bold#176.
CBR: When you created the Black Cat to be Spider-Man’s new girl friend, was it linked to a desire to write stuff about Catwoman or was it only an homage?
Marv: I didn’t plan Black Cat to be in Spidey. I created her for Spider-Woman (look at the letter column of the first B.C. story and you’ll see). I then decided to leave Spider-Woman and moved her over. So, I never even thought of Catwoman when I did her. I got the idea for her from a Tex Avery cartoon, Bad Luck Blackie.
Felicia Hardy's signature costume, cat burglar profession, and her steady relationship to Spider-Man predate Selina Kyle's similar depiction in comics by almost a decade. Catwoman spent most of her comic life as a purple-dressed female super villain who used big cats to commit anything but subtle crimes. Selina Kyle's current comic book incarnation as a black suited cat burglar with romantic ties to Batman didn't occur until 1987 with Frank Miller's classic Batman: Year One, although Batman did show a romantic interest in her during her first appearance in Batman #1 before she wore a costume and was known simply as "The Cat". Catwoman's depiction in 1966 on the Batman television series was the first time outside the comics that we saw Selina Kyle as a black catsuit-clad cat burglar seductress.
Don´t say you never learned anything reading this blog.
For today this is the end but we will stay on the subject of the Black Cat in the next post. I just know how hard it is to scroll down so much text ( yes, I´m lazy too ) and it´s easier to see that there is new content. And there is a comment I want to mention so stay tuned when comicbabe battle continues.
New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN :
1 comment:
Glad to see the end of Spiderbabe Battle! And great pics. Yum. Curious as to who you'd say most resembles Felicia Hardy IRL.
As far as the bi thing goes, Wiki does obliquely reference it if you scroll down to the category lists at the bottom of her page - "Fictional Bisexuals". The reveal came in the first issue of "Black Cat/Spider-Man: The Evil That Men Do" when she mentioned how long it had been since she'd had a boyfriend "or a girlfriend".
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