My Rating
“The Season Finale”
Patsy Walker has stepped through the True-Form Doorway, and her demonic exterior has finally been revealed. Shocked by the transformation, Patsy’s fragile mind flashes through the events that brought her to this moment. Through all the death, trauma, confusion, and trips to Hell, who has remained by her side? Daimon Hellstrom! Something inside Patsy tells her that the Son of Satan may have always been her true love. But can that possibly be true? Before her mind can comprehend the answer, Hellcat lashes out at the demon Blackheart!
Empowered by her enhanced hell-state, the woman who once proudly wore the title of superhero tears into the black-hearted son of Mephisto. Blackheart quickly discovers that this is no ordinary Patsy Walker, as Hellcat makes short work of the powerful demon. Daimon Hellstrom barely has time to gloat over the victory before another player arrives on the scene—Sleepwalker!
The dream detective and avatar of Rick Sheridan has finally pieced together the events surrounding Spalding Grantham’s death. More importantly, Sleepwalker knows who really murdered the inventor. Patsy Walker has been manipulated from the very beginning, and the man pulling the strings was standing beside her the entire time. The Son of Satan. The Son of Lies. Daimon Hellstrom!
Can Spalding Grantham and Sleepwalker break through the layers of damage clouding Patsy Walker’s psyche? Who performed the exorcism that finally banished the ghost of Dorothy Walker? Exactly how many times has Patsy died and traveled to Hell in the first place? Most importantly, can Hellcat finally escape the demons—both real and imagined—that have controlled her life? Collect the series to find out!
Review
Wow! So a lot has happened to poor Patsy since the days of Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Apparently, I’ve missed more than a few important chapters in the life of our favorite redheaded superhero. This finale gives us a quick tour through Patsy’s complicated history, including the various times she has died, visited Hell, returned from Hell, and generally experienced enough supernatural trauma to keep a psychiatrist employed for life. Marvel even provides references to the various series that help bridge the gap leading into this second Hellcat volume. Strangely, there is no mention of Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! What gives?
“The Season Finale” is another quick read, but at least Christopher Cantwell manages to tie everything together in a fairly neat package. The Spalding Grantham murder mystery finally gets its answer, Hellstrom’s manipulation comes to light, Blackheart gets his moment, and Patsy learns more about what has been happening inside her own head. I still think this five-issue series took the “slow and steady” approach a little too seriously, but the finale makes some of that waiting worthwhile. There were enough supernatural twists along the way to keep me interested, even when I wanted the story to pick up the pace.
Overall, this was a decent miniseries with a few nice plot twists, and I would recommend it to Hellcat fans. That being said, I’m going to sound like a broken record one final time: I miss the fun Hellcat! Still, it was great seeing Sleepwalker again. What an interesting Marvel character to keep lurking around the supernatural corners of the universe. Any Patsy Walker fan worth their salt should give Volume 2 a shot. I’m giving Hellcat #5 four out of five stars, with the entire series earning four out of five stars as well. Enough said. I’m hitting the True-Form Doorway!