Legendary thief Felicia Hardy has been running errands for an old mentor of hers for quite some time now. All of those little errands culminate in one of the most dangerous adventures as Hardy and the Black Fox enter one of the most totally secure places in all of Marvel Manhattan. Writer Jed MacKay's whirlwind adventure with Felicia reaches the beginning of a crescendo in Black Cat #5. Artist Michael Dowling renders both intricate emotional detail and overwhelming power in a well-executed opening to a big finale for a story arc that's been edging around the corners of Felicia's title for quite a long time now.

Black Fox hasn't told Felicia everything. There are some rather important details that he's left out. This is to be expected with any thief. Felicia's a bit shocked to find out quite precisely what it is that her old mentor has been asking her for over the past year or more. As student, mentor, and support staff enter the New York Thieves Guild's vault and into a secret underground graveyard deep beneath Marvel Manhattan. Felicia's been through a lot with Black Fox... she's about to go through a great deal more.

MacKay has been exploring the deep psychology of Felicia Hardy in the pages of her book. It might not always seem like a typical adventure is diving too terribly deep into her psyche, but she's the type of character who keeps things pretty close. MacKay opens the issue with a moment between Fox and Cat and swings through an adventure that reveals a lot about Hardy by revealing some of the most important things she doesn't know about her mentor. This is an insidiously clever approach as it allows for sly character development in the midst of rising action. Clever stuff. 

Dowling slides through the shadows this issue. Yes, there IS some really delicate work being done on the more emotional ends of the ensemble. Still, Dowling manages to handle the emotional end of things while telling an action story that is both rooted n a very real earthbound grittiness AND punctuated by sheer magical intensity as the rising action reaches its big cliffhanger. It's very well-orchestrated art that could have easily lost its balance somewhere along the lines had it been handled by a less nuanced artist. 

Black Cat's big climax also seems to be setting things up for the next major plot arc as certain revelations are made about Black Fox that might be explored in greater detail once the whole mess beneath Manhattan draws to a close. It'll be interesting to see how MacKay and company finesse the transition away from the one central quest that Felicia has been dealing with since she started working with MacKay. The character has a really interesting relationship with the writer. Time will tell if that relationship continues to be fruitful. As it stands, Felicia is one of the more interesting characters in all of Marvel. Hopefully, MacKay can maintain that.

Grade: A