Cloudy With A Chance Of Bad Luck: Reviewing ‘Jackpot And Black Cat’ #1

This series has it all. Flying cloaked casinos. Heists. Phone app blackmail. Adorable new love. Mystery villains and much more. As one would expect when Felicia “Black Cat” Hardy and Mary Jane “Jackpot” Watson cross paths once more.

Luck is not on their side in Jackpot And Black Cat #1, a fantastic double sized debut issue from Celeste Bronfman, Emilio Laiso, Brian Reber, and Ariana Maher.

Once upon a time, these two characters’ only thread of commonality was the ex-boyfriend that they shared, often played against each other in the space. Those days are long past, and the heroic duo are an unlikely but solid pair of friends. One, a cat burglar of great skill, renown with a streak of good. The other, a former model and actor, turned superhero with a gauntlet of rotating powers.

What a fantastic duo.

I love that this pairing that began in some one-shots spinning off the previous Amazing Spider-Man run and former Black Cat titles is still going. Not only that, what Jed Mackay began in that Black Cat series to elevate the character to a rightful beyond Spider-Man space continues to this day with other creators.

Bronfman nails these characters’ personalities and dynamic as if she’s been writing them forever. Both with their unique situations and perspectives, bouncing off one another just like one would expect from a new still boundary testing friendship. It’s a refreshing dynamic where the hero and the sort of hero but not, are not butting heads over the thin line that heroes cling to.

We get a moment where it’s referenced that Mary Jane finds a post-heist Felicia and allows her to keep some of the money, after donating the rest to charity. No lectures or such afterward. Because it was money from an illegal villain gambling den, now better served in charitable hands (and some in Felicia’s). Spider-Man and his responsibility streak would have been over-moralizing the heist, but MJ? Well, she gets it.

Unlike the internet, I do not hate Paul (granted, I’m also far behind on Amazing Spider-Man reading). His inclusion here worked, and it’s nice to see that Mary Jane has a support line in her heroic quest, the classic “guy in a chair” style support.

Laiso is a very good choice to bring visual life to this story. There is a great sense of weight, proportion, and movement to everything on the page. Emotions are captured dynamically within the facial expressions and body language of everyone on the page. I first came across Laiso’s work when he tapped in to spell Javier Garron in the recent Uncanny Avengers mini-series. It was impressive there, and somehow it has taken a leap up in just those few months.

Some faces felt a bit squishy and too smooth in that previous issue, but not so much here. There is a bit more definition to things and it works more here.

Part of the change comes from being paired with Black Cat stalwart colorist Reber, who’s been here the whole time (except the Iron Cat miniseries).

Per usual there is a really nice slickness to the colors that Reber brings. Playing in-between the realms of toned-down and vibrant, balancing right on the edge with practiced ease. It creates a visually dynamic world that fits these larger-than-life characters while allowing that sense of “world outside our window” Marvel books were built upon.

While she hasn’t been here as long, Maher is another more recent Black Cat related veteran having worked on the past few miniseries. Her lettering style is one that I love to see in anything, because it’s just so enthusiastic. Always finding ways to let characters voices ring true and life-like in bubbles while also doing visually unique things. Throwing in colors, bubble shifts, modifiers that showcase volume or tone, and so much more. It’s work that shows just how joyful and fun that every visual on the page can be.

Jackpot And Black Cat #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.