Jed MacKay

Patron’s Choice: Guide to Black Cat, Felicia Hardy

August 11, 2022 by krisis

Today I’m finally here with a guide for all Patrons of CK that I’ve been preparing for by adding guides to Heroes For Hire and Spider-Man, Peter Parker (2018-Present)! I needed both guides in place because both of those titles housed this character while she was a stray with no title of her own, but that all changed started in 2019. I’m happy to share the August 2022 Patron’s Choice: Guide to Black Cat, Felicia Hardy!

Felicia Hardy is not who you think she is.

Or, at least, she’s not who I thought she was.

That’s true whether you know her from her origins or from her most-recent appearances, because Black Cat has been at least three distinctly different characters in her comic career – so much so that her current incarnation feels completely disconnected from her debut, even if her arc from start to finish makes sense.

(I know this because I’ve now read every panel she has ever appeared in to put together this Guide to Black Cat!)

I think many folks assume that Felicia Hardy is Marvel’s Catwoman – a cat burglar villain turned vigilante through the power of her attraction to the flagship hero.

That’s not entirely wrong, but Felicia Hardy was only ever a cat burglar for her first four appearances in Amazing Spider-Man (1963) in 1979 and she was never a villain until 2015! We barely even see here do any burgling on-panel between 1980 and the mid-00s unless it’s for her job as a security consultant. Instead, she quickly gave up her life of crime due to an obsession with Spider-Man. As she was originally written, all Felicia wanted to was to be Spider-Man’s partner in adventure and in romance.

Curiously, she has no interest at all in who Spider-Man was under the mask. In fact, when Peter first reveals his apartment and identity in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #74, Felicia reacts with a combination of distaste and horror. To her, the fantastical life of a hero or vigilante is a necessary escape from the dull routine of civilian existence. To think about the regular person beneath the spider-webbed mask ruined her fantasy. [Read more…] about Patron’s Choice: Guide to Black Cat, Felicia Hardy

Daredevil – Definitive Reading Order & Collecting Guide

Updated Mar 25, 2025! The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading-order on collecting Daredevil comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated March 2025 with titles scheduled for release through December 2025.

The debut of Daredevil in 1964 from Stan Lee and Bill Everett took the Marvel method of superheroes to a whole new level. Everett was the creator of one of Marvel’s first heroes – Namor, The Sub-Mariner!

For the past few years, Lee had created an indelible series of flawed, human heroes whose powers doubled as afflictions. The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, The X-Men – these characters were compelled to be heroes by the curse of their abilities, and they were all as interesting out of costume as in.

Daredevil took the “power as a burden” metaphor to a new level, with Matt Murdock’s origin story granting him enhanced senses but leaving him without the power of sight. The burden of Daredevil’s powers was an actual physical handicap that altered his life as a child for years before he ever donned a costume to avenge his father’s death!

Lee was initially concerned that the idea of his new hero might be offensive to blind people, but was overwhelmed by the positive response from charities working with the blind! See The Men Without Fear documentary for more detail. [Read more…] about Daredevil – Definitive Reading Order & Collecting Guide

Moon Knight – The Definitive Collecting Guide & Reading Order

Updated June 20, 2026! The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading order on collecting Moon Knight comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated June 2026 with titles scheduled for release through November 2026.

Moon Knight is Marvel’s distorted Bruce Wayne.

Marc Spector is a willingly schizophrenic playboy millionaire, former military mercenary, and sometimes cab driver who avenges crime while tacitly under the command of an Egyptian god whose powers are both a blessing and a curse that deepens Spector’s insanity.

Did you get all that?

Basically, he’s every bit as unstable as a hero like Batman ought to be played, with the added bonus of multiple identities to explain away the shifts in his personalities cross different runs and creative teams. Plus, that means Moon Knight can never quite be sure he can believe the reality around him.

Moon Knight started out as a humble monster-hunter, introduced as an antagonist to Werewolf by Night. After a string of guest appearances, he graduated into his own title in 1980 and ran almost continuously until 1994.

Despite being a great fit for the extreme 90s, Moon Knight didn’t survive the mid-decade cull of Marvel’s smaller characters and all but disappeared for a decade aside from a pair of four-issue mini-series in 1998 and 1999.

When he returned in 2006, it was with a wink and a nod that he existed somewhere between Batman and Punisher – a vigilante all too happy to mete out his own form of justice in the form of extreme violence.

Since then, Moon Knight has gone from niche fan favorite, to a string of brief runs from high profile creators, to a multi-year run from writer Jed MacKay that has made him one of Marvel most-consistent (and most consistently top-selling) stars.
[Read more…] about Moon Knight – The Definitive Collecting Guide & Reading Order