A Brief History of PATSY WALKER, AKA HELLCAT Leading to Her Very Own On-Going Series This Week!
Hey does anyone remember Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat!? If you answered “Well, maybe, kinda, I think I saw her somewhere.” you would be correct! She has quite the history in the comic book world and this week she stars in her very own on-going series PATSY WALKER, AKA HELLCAT! #1 from writer Kate Leth and artist Brittney Williams.
Oh boy where to start. Well, Patsy Walker was created by Ruth Atkinson and first appeared within the pages of MISS AMERICA MAGAZINE #2 all the way back in November of 1944. She had her Marvel debut as a cameo appearance in FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #3 in 1965 establishing her in the Marvel Universe. Fast forward to 1972 where Walker was introduced as more of a superhero in AMAZING ADVENTURES Vol. 2 #13 by writer Steve Engelhard who had fond memories of her first Marvel cameo and decided to bring her into the mix in a bigger way.
Now concretely established as a superheroine in the Marvel universe, Walker was reintroduced in THE AVENGERS #141 in 1975 and joined the Avengers on a couple of missions. Walker soon after joined The Defenders in issue #44 in 1977 where she met the supernatural adventurer Daimon Hellstrom who just so happens to be…yup you guessed it…the son of Satan. Talk about bad taste in men! They soon marry in DEFENDERS #92 in 1981 and become husband-and-wife occult investigators. Ok, that’s bad ass!
Well, it didn’t work out so well for old Mrs. Walker because in HELLSTORM: PRINCE OF LIES #14 (1994) she was driven mad and committed suicide. But don’t worry! This is Marvel we are talking about. She was resurrected in THUNDERBOLTS 2000, a summer annual comic, and returned with new abilities acquired in Hell. Yay!
Since then, she’s popped up from time to time in countless Marvel comics in bit parts that mainly served to let us know she is still around. Most notably, she had a run in THE DEFENDER vol. 2 #1-12 in 2001-2002. She also had a brief mini-series called PATSY WALKER: HELLCAT #1-5 in 2008-2009. And most recently she appeared within the pages of the All-New Marvel NOW! book SHE-HULK as a private investigator. Oh, and for those of you obsessed with Netflix’s Marvel offerings, she has a significant role in JESSICA JONES as Patricia “Trish” Walker.
Phew, what a history…
and now…
And now old Patsy Walker is chugging along in yet another on-going series for Marvel in the form of PATSY WALKER, AKA HELLCAT! which see’s it’s #1 release this week. Here’s a taste of what to expect:
PATSY WALKER has managed to escape her past, her enemies and Hell itself (literally), but nothing compares to job hunting in New York City! Between trying to make rent and dodging (literal) bullets, Patsy barely has time to deal with her mother’s exploitative romance comics about her childhood resurfacing, much less how they start to interfere with her work and dating life. As she goes from living a double life to a triple, what the Hell is Patsy Walker supposed to do? Raise your (literal) claws for PATSY WALKER, AKA HELLCAT!
It’s a curious choice from Marvel to take a chance on this character yet again, but it’s a most welcome one. It will be fun to see where this character ends up adding to her already pretty insane history in comic books. Good luck Patsy, and stay away from people with the last name Hellstrom.
Words by Jason Furie
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