There’s been a murder, and Patsy Walker is suspect number one in Hellcat #1… and that’s only one of her latest problems.

Although she hasn’t had her own solo series since Kate Leth and Brittney Williams’ Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! concluded in 2017, Patsy has been one busy little kitty lately, fresh off a whirlwind romance with none other than Tony “Iron Man” Stark. But that chapter of her life is over now. After regaining her telekinetic abilities and defeating Blackheart with the aid of her ex-husband, Daimon “Son of Satan” Hellstrom, in the form of her childhood stubbed rabbit (it’s a long story), things seemed on the up for Patsy…

That is, until we find her in Hellcat #1, where she’s revealed to be suspect number one in the murder of her frenemy Hedy Wolfe’s billionaire ex-boyfriend. Making matters even worse, she’s also living with the ghost of her exploitative mother, and Daimon remains intent on bringing her into a turf war of hellish implications. Uh oh!

It becomes immediately clear to any reader that writer Christopher Cantwell’s take on Hellcat is much, much different that of his predecessor’s. Whereas Leth’s series positioned Patsy as a plucky Girl Friday in Williams’ candy-coated cartoon world, Cantwell and artist Alex Lins have much darker designs for her, literally and figuratively. Styled as a pulpy supernatural murder mystery, Hellcat #1 is probably one of the most striking Marvel debuts of late; it almost doesn’t feel like a Marvel product. A character like Patsy, with her long and winding publication history, is perfect fodder for wildly different takes, and Cantwell’s clear affection for her throughout his recent Iron Man run comes through here. This series may not be everybody’s preferred depiction of Patsy, but it’s not as though leaning into her darker aspects is completely out of the question, given that (some of) her powers are literally from hell. Lins’ art reflects this and Patsy’s character in general, using a scratchy, inky aesthetic contrasted with KJ Díaz’s occasionally vibrant colors. She’s scrappy and even grittily dark at times, but there’s also a light within her that can’t be totally diminished no matter her circumstances.

While I do think Hellcat #1 is a good debut issue you could dive into cold, I think it may behoove anybody interested in checking this one out to read the Iron Man/Hellcat Annual from last year first, which essentially serves as a backdoor pilot for what transpires here. I admittedly hadn’t checked it out until after reading Hellcat #1, and it clarified a lot of things I was a little unsure about prior. (E.g. the Daimon-possessed stuffed rabbit, which is not explained in this issue whatsoever.) I presume it’ll be included in the inevitable trade paperback because of how vital it is to set up this new series, but for now that’s something you may want to be clued in on.