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Hellcat (comics)
Encyclopedia
Hellcat is a fictional character
published by Marvel Comics
. She premiered as the star of a teen romantic
-comedy
series and was later integrated into Marvel superhero
franchises such as the Avengers
and the Defenders
.
Created by Ruth Atkinson
, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America
Magazine #2 (Nov. 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics
, and became Hellcat in The Avengers #144 (Feb. 1976).
Created by Ruth Atkinson
, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America
Magazine #2 (cover-dated Nov. 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics
. Redheaded Patsy Walker, her parents Stanley and Betty, her boyfriend Robert "Buzz" Baxter, and her raven-haired friendly rival Hedy Wolfe appeared from the 1940s through 1967 in issues of Miss America, Teen Comics, Girls' Life, and the namesake teen-humor series Patsy Walker and its spin-offs: Patsy and Hedy, Patsy and Her Pals, and the single-issue A Date with Patsy. Attesting to its quiet popularity, Patsy Walker (along with Millie the Model
and Kid Colt, Outlaw
) was among the very few titles published continuously by Marvel from the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books
, through Marvel's 1950s iteration as Atlas Comics
, and into the 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books
.
Future Mad Magazine cartoonist
and "Fold-In" creator Al Jaffee
wrote and drew most of the early issues, several of which included Mad founding editor Harvey Kurtzman
's highly stylized "Hey Look!" one-page humor strips. Jaffee was succeeded by Al Hartley
, who would go on to Archie Comics
and produce many Christian
comic books starring Archie characters and others. Morris Weiss drew Patsy and Her Pals. Millie (the Model) Collins made guest appearances in #92 and 98.
Following Patsy's high-school graduation, in issue #116 (Aug. 1964), the title switched from humor to become a young career-gal romantic adventure. Patsy Walker lasted through issue #124 (Dec. 1965), with Patsy and Hedy outlasting it to its own #110 (Feb. 1967).
Patsy and Hedy made a cameo appearance in Fantastic Four
Annual
#3 (1965), establishing them in the Marvel Universe
. The superhero-team comic The Defenders #89 (Nov. 1980) further established that the earlier stories were fictional works published within the fictional Marvel Universe itself, and written by Patsy's mother Dorothy Walker though based upon Patsy's own life and friends. The Patsy Walker profile in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook #1 (2006) establishes that Walker indeed experienced many of the events from these stories.
Patsy Walker #95 and the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery
#69 (both June 1961) are the first modern comic books labeled "Marvel Comics", with each showing an "MC" box on its cover.
Walker embarked on a new career in Amazing Adventures
vol. 2, #13 (July 1972). There, she met Hank McCoy, one of the original members of the mutant-superhero group the X-Men
, in his alter ego as the Beast
. Dissatisfied with married life with her old boyfriend "Buzz" Baxter, now a U.S. Air Force colonel, she helped the injured Beast in return for "just a costume, with some power, or a serum, or something," wanting to become a superheroine.
Writer Steve Englehart
recalled that Walker's cameo in Fantastic Four Annual #3 had
Shortly afterward, the superhero team the Avengers, with the Beast and Walker tagging along, invade the corrupt Brand Corporation where Baxter is posted. There she found one of superheroine Greer Grant Nelson
's spare Cat costumes. Immediately donning the yellow cat-suit, Walker dubbed herself Hellcat. "This suit seems to know what to do all by itself!" she thinks. "I always was pretty coordinated, with my surfing
and skiing
— but now I'm Olympic material!" Nelson herself, who by this time had become the superpowered Tigra, told Walker, "This wonderful suit was designed to extend any woman's strengths." Walker later adapted the suit's look slightly.
Recalled writer Englehart in 2010,
Hellcat joined the superhero team the Defenders in issue #44 (Feb. 1977) of the eponymous comic. After many adventures with the group, she met the supernatural adventurer Daimon Hellstrom
, the Son of Satan
, in The Defenders #92 (Feb. 1981). They marry in The Defenders #125 and become husband-and-wife occult investigators, but Hellstrom's demonic nature asserts itself, and Walker is driven first mad and then, in Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #14 (May 1994), to suicide
. Through Hellstrom's manipulation of the superhero Hawkeye
, she was resurrected, in Thunderbolts 2000
, a summer Annual of the superhero-team comic Thunderbolts, and returned to Earth with new abilities acquired while in Hell
. (The story which began in Thunderbolts 2000
concluded in Avengers 2000
.) A three-issue Hellcat (Sept. - Nov. 2000) series takes place immediately following the events in the Thunderbolts and Avengers #2000 Annuals. Briefly adopting a new costume and then returning to her traditional yellow outfit, she rejoined the Defenders in a short-lived revival series, The Defenders vol. 2, #1-12 (March 2001 - Feb. 2002).
After appearing in occasional guest roles, Hellcat starred in the miniseries
Patsy Walker: Hellcat #1-5 (Sept. 2008 - Feb. 2009). Following this, she was an ensemble star and narrator, alongside the superheroines Firestar
, Black Cat
, and Photon
, in the miniseries Marvel Divas
#1-4 (Sept.-Dec. 2009), which writers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
and Tonci Zonjic had pitched to Marvel editors as "Sex and the City
in the Marvel Universe".
When that costume became contaminated with radioactivity in a Chernobyl
-like nuclear disaster engineered by the supervillain
the Presence
, Walker creates a similar outfit of her own, substituting blue clawed gloves and talon-toed boots, retaining only the cable-claws strapped to each wrist. The new costume has a blue cowl instead of yellow.
After having used her natural athletic abilities and good instincts to rescue the Avengers, Walker is offered membership in the team. The cosmic adventurer Moondragon
persuades her to decline and instead accompany Moondragon to the Saturn
moon of Titan
for training in psychic
ability and advanced martial arts
. Walker's training is abbreviated when she returns to Earth to assist the supernatural hero Doctor Strange
, and then join the superhero team the Defenders. Moondragon revokes her psychic abilities, citing Walker's ineffective use of them as the cause.
She meets her future husband Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, during the course of her Defenders adventuring. After learning that her mother had promised her soul to Satan, and briefly being lied to by the Devil that he was her father, Walker reunites with her real father and marries Hellstrom. The two then retire from superheroics. Ultimately, Hellstrom's demonic inheritance took possession of him and drove Walker insane. Institutionalized, she was driven to suicide by the otherworldly being Deathurge
.
Trapped in Hell, Walker's spirit is used in a series of gladiatorial-like combat scenarios. There, she learns to develop and use her psychic powers. Hellstrom tricks the archer superhero Hawkeye into returning her spirit to Earth; Hawkeye believes he is retrieving his presumed-dead wife, Mockingbird
, from the demonic lord Mephisto
's realm. Resurrected and back on Earth, Walker retains the powers she developed in Hell. Now able to manifest a costume at will, Walker adopts a reversed version of the Cat costume, with a blue cat-suit and cowl with yellow gloves and boots. In this new guise, and once again a member of the Defenders, Hellcat focuses on combating occult
evils, notably Nicholas Scratch
, who had based himself in her hometown of Centerville, and the otherdimensional ruler Dormammu
.
During the superhero "Civil War"
over the federal Superhuman Registration Act
, Hellcat willingly registers. She serves as one of the young superheroes' instructors at Camp Hammond. She was then assigned as an official superhero in Alaska
, but eventually returned to New York City
.
and Moondragon.
Patsy Walker has appeared in Marvel Comics' Multiverse
Ultimate Marvel
imprint
. In Ultimate Spider-Man
, she first appears as a spokeswoman for a security firm (#11), then as a swimsuit model for Maxim
magazine (#14), a talk show hostess, presenting a biography on Doctor Strange (#70), and finally interviewing Norman Osborn (#113). In addition she appeared in Ultimate Marvel Team-up, hosting an instructional video for the Baxter Building, although this issue is not necessarily canonical. Patsy has taken her "Hellcat" identity in Ultimates
and was a founding member of the ill-fated Defenders. Additionally, Kitty Pryde has (within the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man) constructed a costume visually similar to the 616 Hellcat's, differing in color and mask design only. She later shows up in Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates
, apparently powered up, and slightly resembling Tigra.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. She premiered as the star of a teen romantic
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
-comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series and was later integrated into Marvel superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
franchises such as the Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
and the Defenders
Defenders (comics)
The Defenders is the name of a number of Marvel Comics superhero groups which are usually presented as a "non-team" of individualistic "outsiders," each known for following their own agendas...
.
Created by Ruth Atkinson
Ruth Atkinson
Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson (June 2, 1918 - June 1, 1997 was an American cartoonist and pioneering female comic book artist who helped create the...
, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America
Miss America (Marvel Comics)
Miss America is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery...
Magazine #2 (Nov. 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
, and became Hellcat in The Avengers #144 (Feb. 1976).
Teen-humor heroine
Ruth Atkinson
Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson (June 2, 1918 - June 1, 1997 was an American cartoonist and pioneering female comic book artist who helped create the...
, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America
Miss America (Marvel Comics)
Miss America is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery...
Magazine #2 (cover-dated Nov. 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
. Redheaded Patsy Walker, her parents Stanley and Betty, her boyfriend Robert "Buzz" Baxter, and her raven-haired friendly rival Hedy Wolfe appeared from the 1940s through 1967 in issues of Miss America, Teen Comics, Girls' Life, and the namesake teen-humor series Patsy Walker and its spin-offs: Patsy and Hedy, Patsy and Her Pals, and the single-issue A Date with Patsy. Attesting to its quiet popularity, Patsy Walker (along with Millie the Model
Millie the Model
Millie the Model was Marvel Comics' longest-running humor title, first published by the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and continuing through its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics, to 1970s Marvel.-Publication history:...
and Kid Colt, Outlaw
Kid Colt
Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first is a cowboy whose adventures have taken place in numerous western themed comic book series published by Marvel...
) was among the very few titles published continuously by Marvel from the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
, through Marvel's 1950s iteration as Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
, and into the 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
.
Future Mad Magazine cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
and "Fold-In" creator Al Jaffee
Al Jaffee
Abraham Jaffee , known as Al Jaffee, is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. As of 2010, Jaffee remains a regular in the magazine after 55 years and is its longest-running contributor...
wrote and drew most of the early issues, several of which included Mad founding editor Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
's highly stylized "Hey Look!" one-page humor strips. Jaffee was succeeded by Al Hartley
Al Hartley
Henry Allan Hartley , known professionally as Al Hartley, was an American comic book writer-artist known for his work on Archie Comics, Atlas Comics , and many Christian comics...
, who would go on to Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
and produce many Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
comic books starring Archie characters and others. Morris Weiss drew Patsy and Her Pals. Millie (the Model) Collins made guest appearances in #92 and 98.
Following Patsy's high-school graduation, in issue #116 (Aug. 1964), the title switched from humor to become a young career-gal romantic adventure. Patsy Walker lasted through issue #124 (Dec. 1965), with Patsy and Hedy outlasting it to its own #110 (Feb. 1967).
Patsy and Hedy made a cameo appearance in Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
Annual
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
#3 (1965), establishing them in the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. The superhero-team comic The Defenders #89 (Nov. 1980) further established that the earlier stories were fictional works published within the fictional Marvel Universe itself, and written by Patsy's mother Dorothy Walker though based upon Patsy's own life and friends. The Patsy Walker profile in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook #1 (2006) establishes that Walker indeed experienced many of the events from these stories.
Patsy Walker #95 and the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery was an American comic book series published by Atlas Comics, and later its successor Marvel Comics. It featured horror, monster, and science fiction stories...
#69 (both June 1961) are the first modern comic books labeled "Marvel Comics", with each showing an "MC" box on its cover.
Hellcat
Amazing Adventures
Amazing Adventures is the name of several anthology comic book series, all but one published by Marvel Comics.The earliest Marvel series of that name introduced the company's first superhero of the late-1950s to early-1960s period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books...
vol. 2, #13 (July 1972). There, she met Hank McCoy, one of the original members of the mutant-superhero group the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, in his alter ego as the Beast
Beast (comics)
Beast , Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, is a comic book character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the mutant team of superheroes known as the X-Men...
. Dissatisfied with married life with her old boyfriend "Buzz" Baxter, now a U.S. Air Force colonel, she helped the injured Beast in return for "just a costume, with some power, or a serum, or something," wanting to become a superheroine.
Writer Steve Englehart
Steve Englehart
Steve Englehart is an American novelist. In his earlier career he was a comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics, particularly in the 1970s...
recalled that Walker's cameo in Fantastic Four Annual #3 had
Shortly afterward, the superhero team the Avengers, with the Beast and Walker tagging along, invade the corrupt Brand Corporation where Baxter is posted. There she found one of superheroine Greer Grant Nelson
Tigra
Tigra is a fictional American comic book superheroine in the Marvel Comics universe. Introduced as the non-superpowered crime fighter The Cat in Claws of the Cat #1 , she was co-created by writer-editor Roy Thomas, writer Linda Fite, and penciller Marie Severin...
's spare Cat costumes. Immediately donning the yellow cat-suit, Walker dubbed herself Hellcat. "This suit seems to know what to do all by itself!" she thinks. "I always was pretty coordinated, with my surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
and skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
— but now I'm Olympic material!" Nelson herself, who by this time had become the superpowered Tigra, told Walker, "This wonderful suit was designed to extend any woman's strengths." Walker later adapted the suit's look slightly.
Recalled writer Englehart in 2010,
Hellcat joined the superhero team the Defenders in issue #44 (Feb. 1977) of the eponymous comic. After many adventures with the group, she met the supernatural adventurer Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom
Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:He first appeared in Ghost Rider Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan and Hellstorm, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics...
, the Son of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
, in The Defenders #92 (Feb. 1981). They marry in The Defenders #125 and become husband-and-wife occult investigators, but Hellstrom's demonic nature asserts itself, and Walker is driven first mad and then, in Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #14 (May 1994), to suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Through Hellstrom's manipulation of the superhero Hawkeye
Hawkeye (comics)
Hawkeye , also known as Goliath and Ronin, is a fictional character that appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck. Hawkeye joined the Avengers in Avengers Vol. 1 #16 Hawkeye...
, she was resurrected, in Thunderbolts 2000
Thunderbolts (comics)
The Thunderbolts are a Marvel Comics superhero team, which consists mostly of former supervillains. The group first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449 , and was created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley.-Publication history:...
, a summer Annual of the superhero-team comic Thunderbolts, and returned to Earth with new abilities acquired while in Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. (The story which began in Thunderbolts 2000
Thunderbolts (comics)
The Thunderbolts are a Marvel Comics superhero team, which consists mostly of former supervillains. The group first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449 , and was created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley.-Publication history:...
concluded in Avengers 2000
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
.) A three-issue Hellcat (Sept. - Nov. 2000) series takes place immediately following the events in the Thunderbolts and Avengers #2000 Annuals. Briefly adopting a new costume and then returning to her traditional yellow outfit, she rejoined the Defenders in a short-lived revival series, The Defenders vol. 2, #1-12 (March 2001 - Feb. 2002).
After appearing in occasional guest roles, Hellcat starred in the miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Patsy Walker: Hellcat #1-5 (Sept. 2008 - Feb. 2009). Following this, she was an ensemble star and narrator, alongside the superheroines Firestar
Firestar
Firestar is a fictional mutant superhero in the . Debuting in 1981 on the NBC animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, she has the ability to generate and manipulate microwave radiation, which allows her to generate intense heat and flames, and to fly...
, Black Cat
Black Cat (comics)
The Black Cat is a fictional character, a superheroine in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 ....
, and Photon
Monica Rambeau
Monica Rambeau is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine in the Marvel Comics universe. Initially known as Captain Marvel, the character became a leader of the Avengers...
, in the miniseries Marvel Divas
Marvel Divas
Marvel Divas is a limited series comic book published by Marvel Comics. On April 9, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada revealed in his weekly blog with MySpace Comic Books that the series follows four female heroes, who, up until now, had nothing in common...
#1-4 (Sept.-Dec. 2009), which writers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter and comic-book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the HBO drama series Big Love.-Biography:...
and Tonci Zonjic had pitched to Marvel editors as "Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
in the Marvel Universe".
Fictional character biography
After growing up in suburban Centerville, graduating high school and marrying high-school sweetheart Robert "Buzz" Baxter, Patsy Walker becomes an assistant to scientist Hank McCoy, the mutant superhero the Beast, who at that time was on hiatus from the X-Men. Estranged from her husband, now a U.S. Air Force colonel, Walker befriends McCoy and, desiring to become a superhero, accompanied McCoy on an adventure with the superhero team the Avengers. She adopts an ability-enhancing costume that formerly belonged to Greer Grant Nelson, the former masked adventuress the Cat.When that costume became contaminated with radioactivity in a Chernobyl
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
-like nuclear disaster engineered by the supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
the Presence
Presence (Marvel Comics)
Sergei Krylov is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe.-Fictional character biography:As a younger man, Sergei was a Russian nuclear physicist born in Minsk, U.S.S.R...
, Walker creates a similar outfit of her own, substituting blue clawed gloves and talon-toed boots, retaining only the cable-claws strapped to each wrist. The new costume has a blue cowl instead of yellow.
After having used her natural athletic abilities and good instincts to rescue the Avengers, Walker is offered membership in the team. The cosmic adventurer Moondragon
Moondragon
Moondragon is a fictional character in Marvel Comics Universe. A vastly powerful telepath, master martial artist, minor telekinetic, and highly skilled geneticist, Moondragon's most notable characteristics are her shaved head, superiority complex, and gruelling elite excellence in virtually every...
persuades her to decline and instead accompany Moondragon to the Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
moon of Titan
Titan (Marvel Comics)
In the Marvel Universe, Saturn's moon Titan is the fictional home of the Titanian Eternals. It first appeared in Iron Man #55 and was created by Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich...
for training in psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
ability and advanced martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
. Walker's training is abbreviated when she returns to Earth to assist the supernatural hero Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
, and then join the superhero team the Defenders. Moondragon revokes her psychic abilities, citing Walker's ineffective use of them as the cause.
She meets her future husband Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, during the course of her Defenders adventuring. After learning that her mother had promised her soul to Satan, and briefly being lied to by the Devil that he was her father, Walker reunites with her real father and marries Hellstrom. The two then retire from superheroics. Ultimately, Hellstrom's demonic inheritance took possession of him and drove Walker insane. Institutionalized, she was driven to suicide by the otherworldly being Deathurge
Deathurge
Deathurge is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a wraith-like superhuman entity who served as the herald and agent of Oblivion. He first appeared in Marvel Two-In-One #71.-Fictional character biography:...
.
Trapped in Hell, Walker's spirit is used in a series of gladiatorial-like combat scenarios. There, she learns to develop and use her psychic powers. Hellstrom tricks the archer superhero Hawkeye into returning her spirit to Earth; Hawkeye believes he is retrieving his presumed-dead wife, Mockingbird
Mockingbird (Marvel Comics)
Mockingbird is a fictional character, a superhero in the who first appears in the Ka-Zar story in Astonishing Tales #6 written by Gerry Conway and pencilled by Barry Smith...
, from the demonic lord Mephisto
Mephisto (comics)
Mephisto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Silver Surfer #3 and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema, loosely modeled on Mephistopheles - a character from the Faust legend.Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books,...
's realm. Resurrected and back on Earth, Walker retains the powers she developed in Hell. Now able to manifest a costume at will, Walker adopts a reversed version of the Cat costume, with a blue cat-suit and cowl with yellow gloves and boots. In this new guise, and once again a member of the Defenders, Hellcat focuses on combating occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
evils, notably Nicholas Scratch
Nicholas Scratch
Nicholas Scratch is a fictional wizard in the Marvel Comics universe. He is predominantly a foe of the Fantastic Four. The name "Nicholas Scratch" is an amalgam of colloquial names for the Devil: "Old Nick" and "Old Scratch" or "Mr...
, who had based himself in her hometown of Centerville, and the otherdimensional ruler Dormammu
Dormammu
Dormammu is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Strange Tales #126 Dormammu is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Strange Tales #126 Dormammu is a...
.
During the superhero "Civil War"
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
over the federal Superhuman Registration Act
Registration Acts (comics)
The Registration Acts—the Mutant Registration Act and Superhuman Registration Act —are fictional legislative bills that have been plot points used in various comic books published by Marvel Comics which, when passed into law, enforce the mandatory registration of superpowered individuals with...
, Hellcat willingly registers. She serves as one of the young superheroes' instructors at Camp Hammond. She was then assigned as an official superhero in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, but eventually returned to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Powers and abilities
Hellcat can sense mystical phenomena or those items or persons touched by mystical energy. She can use a force field that deflects mystical attacks. She is able to summon her costume at will. Patsy is a well-trained martial artist, having been taught by both Captain AmericaCaptain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
and Moondragon.
Ultimate Hellcat
Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the multiverse was established as...
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
. In Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
, she first appears as a spokeswoman for a security firm (#11), then as a swimsuit model for Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
magazine (#14), a talk show hostess, presenting a biography on Doctor Strange (#70), and finally interviewing Norman Osborn (#113). In addition she appeared in Ultimate Marvel Team-up, hosting an instructional video for the Baxter Building, although this issue is not necessarily canonical. Patsy has taken her "Hellcat" identity in Ultimates
Ultimates
The Ultimates is a fictional group of superheroes that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, and first appeared in The Ultimates #1 , as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint...
and was a founding member of the ill-fated Defenders. Additionally, Kitty Pryde has (within the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man) constructed a costume visually similar to the 616 Hellcat's, differing in color and mask design only. She later shows up in Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates
Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates
Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates is a comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics that began in March 2010 as part of Marvel's "Ultimate Comics" imprint. The series was written by Jeph Loeb, writer of Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum...
, apparently powered up, and slightly resembling Tigra.
External links
- Patsy Walker and Hellcat (list includes earlier, unrelated character[s]) at the Grand Comics Database
- Atlas Tales
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Patsy Walker at Marvel Directory