Can’t a Girl Just Make a Living?

Kate Leth continues the adventures of Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat. Patsy just wants to get her life together and avoid the big fights. She’s Avenged and she’s Defended and now she wants to keep her head down and live a life. That’s hard to do when her childhood frenemy is making problems for her and Civil War II is going on.

I love Kate Leth’s Patsy Walker. She’s warm and bright, but not chirpy and naive. Patsy’s sweetness is tempered by by the sadness and trauma she’s experienced in the past. As one devil says, she’s got so much rage inside and she’s just barely scraping by. Patsy’s version of struggling to get by and recovering from being dead and in Hell is building a community of supportive friends.

Brittney Williams’ art and Megan Wilson’s coloring add a lot of fun and energy to Leth’s story. Rich, bright colors and panels illustrate emotion as well as action. The styalized art gives depth to frothy moments and lightness to dark moments.

I haven’t followed the various Civil War stories. I appreciated that Patsy stayed in her world and chose to be a small time hero rather than fight the big fights. When her best friend, Jennifer Walters, She Hulk, is injured fighting Thanos, Patsy steps in to keep Jennifer’s business running. Businesses that had relied on Superhero trade are suffering because every one is gone, and not all the extra powered want to fight. Patsy and her friends try to keep everyone afloat. Not all heroing is about saving the universe. I love that Patsy never insists she has to do it alone.

While the Superheroes are off fighting Thanos and each other, other villains are taking advantage. Don’t Stop Me-ow ends on a cliff hanger between Patsy and a new villain, Black Cat. Yes, it’s cat superhero v cat super villain.