This Halloween, Celebrate Black Cat's Historical Heists

No Halloween is complete without a black cat, and who better than to represent the yearly holiday with our very own Felicia Hardy, the cat burglar herself! Inspired by her infamous father to be the best bandit, Black Cat quickly gained a reputation for being the world’s smartest and sneakiest jewel thief. But how did she achieve such notoriety? Let’s take a look back to see how it all started and relive some of her meowst epic heists!

Cat Burglar’s Breakout Role

Thanks to her athletic moves and cat-like reflexes, the first and most noble heist Black Cat ever pulled off was a smashing success! After training for nearly two years, Felicia’s sharpened senses and expert gymnastics helped her gain vital information from a police precinct that led her to build a crew. With their help, she liberated her dying father from prison despite a run-in with Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man. See Felicia as the Black Cat for the first time ever in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #194 and read through to issue #195 for the emotional reunion with her father!

Fur-tunate Pay Day

When Black Cat infiltrated the Guggenheim Museum to steal the Golden Lovers statue, she had an unfortunate encounter with Spider-Man and lost her prized possession. It’s widely believed that criminals often return to the scene of the crime, and it’s true! But Felicia’s second attempt to steal the statue was not about to be another catastrophic failure. She previously planted gas pellets in the museum which knocked its guards out cold, but of course that pesky Spider tried to stop her again. This time she had a radical plan to take out Spidey, one that left him with broken bones. With Spider-Man out of the way, Felicia made her way to an auction where she swiped the Rajah Ruby, two of four artifacts secured as part of a larger plan to steal Spider-Man’s heart in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #204-#205. 

Paw-sible Deniability

After Felicia faked mental instability to evade capture for her many thefts – and easily escaped the doctors that Spider-Man sent her to – she got right back to her old ways. She first stole a valuable painting from a Maggia crime-boss and slipped through the protective electric-eye beams with ease, landing on her feet, of course. She then gifted the painting to Spider-Man as a peace offering for a truce. Though their truce didn’t stick, as the cat burglar couldn’t resist a life of crime and invited the Spider to join her. See if they become the purr-fect pair and how far Felicia goes to avoid getting caught in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #226-#227!

Cat and Mouse with a Spider

After teaming up with Spider-Man against Doctor Octopus, Black Cat suffered from multiple life-threatening wounds. Spider-Man rushed her to a hospital, and after she recovered, they embarked on a romantic relationship, one that ultimately led him to reveal his most safely-guarded secret to her: his identity! Despite this moment of vulnerability and successfully stealing the Wall-Crawler’s heart after many attempts to attract his attention, Felicia struggled to reconcile his choice for a civilian life in PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #86-#87.

The Tantalizing Tail of the Omega Drive

After Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil helped Black Cat out of a crime she didn’t commit, it wasn’t long before the clever cat and ol’ Hornhead were suddenly embroiled in a love affair. As Daredevil whiskered her off her feet, it wasn’t long before Black Spectre hired Felicia to rob him blind of a device he stole: the Omega Drive. Made out of an old Fantastic Four costume, the drive contained sensitive information about the five mega-crime organizations: Hydra, A.I.M., Agencé Byzantine, Secret Empire, and the Black Spectre. See how their relationship started in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1999) #677 and what happened after she lifted the sought-after data drive in DAREDEVIL (2011) #8-#10!

Pawsitively Manipulated

Despite bringing bad fortune to those in her vicinity, Felicia ended up on the other side of luck after stealing a Russian relic from a mysterious menace. She soon found her trusted confidant and jeweler Ernst Fielding’s murdered in his shop, and her mother kidnapped by a man working for the Kravinoff family demanding more Russian artifacts! See Felicia’s plot to save her mom and how she came face-to-face with the formidable Kravinoffs in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: BLACK CAT (2010) #1-4!

Never Cross A Black Cat!

One of Black Cat’s more recent historic heists involved the most fortified and mystically protected mansions in all of New York City: Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum! She broke in with her crooked crew and the magician Xander the Merciless to steal the original deed to the island of Manhattan. Once Felicia came upon the intended treasure, Xander was busy with his own agenda, stealing back his previously lost Star-Stone from Strange’s coveted collection of mystical items. Imbued with additional power, he attacked Felicia, but she deflected his magic spells with her bad luck powers, and escaped with the deed in claw. See how Felicia and company navigate the troublesome traps throughout the Sanctorum and her bad luck powers in action in BLACK CAT (2019) #2-#3!

Now those are some pros-purr-ous heists! Get your paws on all these Marvel Unlimited titles right meow and don’t forget to pre-order Felicia’s next big score in BLACK CAT #1, available from your local comic book shop or digitally this December!

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