Thanks to Netflix's upcoming series, Jessica Jones, people are going to get reintroduced to another strong female Marvel character, Patsy Walker.
Patsy is also getting her very own comic book series, detailing her life as superhero Hellcat. Not only that, but Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! will feature a female writer and artist: Kate Leth and Brittney Williams, respectively.
Although Marvel fans might not know Patsy Walker very well, she is actually one of Marvel's oldest characters, originally debuting in 1944 — well before the Avengers (except Captain America) and Spider-man. However, the character didn't start out as a superhero: her early stories were basically teenage romances. That changed in the 1970s, when Marvel gave her superpowers: this saw the birth of her superhero alter-ego, Hellcat.
The new comic book has styled Hellcat as a "superhero martial-arts wiz that can sense mystical energy." But as Patsy, she's just a normal young woman looking to find her way in New York City. The creators have even thrown in a little homage to Patsy's early years, by including a detail that Patsy's mom writes romance comics.
"Kate and Brittney are cooking up a series here that's like a superhero version of Trainwreck or Broad City — a comedic and action-packed story about a woman figuring out her life," said Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! editor Wil Moss to Yahoo! "Except Abbi and Ilana have never had to deal with crime waves, a supervillain temp agency, or an ex who is literally the son of Satan."
Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! is just one of several new female-led comic books Marvel plans on releasing this year: the company has already announced a new Spider-Gwen title. Marvel has books dedicated to other women as well, including Black Widow, Silk and Ms. Marvel.
"I think it's important for people to be able to see themselves in comics, movies, music, etc," said Leth. "Women are a huge portion of the audience and growing all the time; we see that in sales numbers, cosplay, merch, con attendance and more."
Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! arrives in stores and online in December.
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