With the third season of 'Jessica Jones' about to drop (the trailer can be viewed here), will the Netflix version of Patsy (portrayed by Australian actress Rachael Taylor) finally become Hellcat?
A better question would be, does it even matter? It’s not exactly news that the Netflix Marvel shows are as good as cancelled. Still I don’t think we should write off the character’s future just yet….
Although Netflix is abandoning the Marvel shows, there’s no guarantee that they won’t find life on another platform. Okay, the possibility is bleak…but, according to several sources, it’s there (see here).
That said, I’m not here to blog about streaming shows (with cancellation of ‘Swamp Thing,’ that’s an especially depressing topic right now), I’m here to blog about comics.
This post is something of a follow up to my 02/07/2019 blog-post on Greer Grant aka the Cat aka Tigra (see She Stalks By Night). This time, I deal with the Cat’s heroic descendant: Hellcat aka Patricia 'Patsy' Walker.
Originally, Patsy Walker was a character featured in comics of the teen/romantic/comedy genre; later, she became integrated into the world of the Marvel superheroes, after her Golden Age appearances were retconned as fictional and the ‘actual’ Patricia Walker began appearing as ‘Hellcat’, in the Avengers.
Patsy Walker was originally created by Stuart Little and Ruth Atkinson, her first appearance goes back to the Golden Age in the Timely title Miss America Magazine.
Miss America Magazine #2 (November 1944) – First appearance of Patsy Walker
Here it is, the very first appearance of Patsy Walker. Back then she was a humorous teenager getting into trouble, in fact the character was meant to be comic relief. Not that there’s anything funny about the prices on this Golden Age comic. In total there are only 14 copies of this issue counted on the census. The most recent sales are from 03/17/2018, when a 7.5 graded copy sold for $4, 150.00 on eBay and 02/22/2018 when an 8.0 was auctioned on Heritage for a total of $4,302.00.
Patsy Walker #1 (1945) – First issue of Solo-Series
After her appearance in Miss America Comics, the Patsy character appeared in titles such as Teen Comics and Girls' Life before obtaining her own monthly title. Hedy Wolfe (her rival), Buzz Baxter (her boyfriend) and Patsy’s rustic cousin Birdseye are all present in this, her debut comic. This comic hit the newsstands before the end of World War II, and so the era is completely different. That said, these stories are a hoot. This Patsy Walker key is difficult to find in any grade. Only 26 of these on the CGC census. On 02/28/2019 a 5.0 sold on ComicLink for $2, 301.00. Simultaneously with that sale, also on ComicLink, a 9.2 sold for $12,222.00. It’s Patsy!
Avengers #144 (February 1976) – First appearance and Origin of Hellcat
This issue marks the beginning of the second half of Patsy’s career in Marvel comics as the mystical Hellcat. Here we learn that the earlier Patsy comic adventures were written by her father (a comic writer) and that the real Patricia Walker who was an admirer of super-heroes. Inheriting Greer Grant’s Cat suit, she renames herself Hellcat, eventually joining the Avengers and later the Defenders. 524 units on the CGC census. This comic has a crazy high value in 9.8. Currently sitting at $1,400.00. For a Bronze Age Avengers comic that’s quite high. The highest recorded sale was on 11/11/2018 when a 9.8 copy sold for $1, 900.00. The good news is that prices drop significantly when you dip below the 9.8 grade.
FMV for 9.6 = $350.00
9.4 = $170
9.2 = $140
9.0 = $90
8.5 = $75
Three month returns look mixed/positive. Highest returns have been on 8.0 after 2 sales showing a positive +63.3% [eBay sale 04/10/2019 = $49.00 and 06/04/2019 = $80.00]. But jump up to 9.0 and we see negative returns posted of -15.5% after 3 eBay sales [04/07/2019 = $109.99, 05/06/2019 = $66.00 and 06/01/2019 = $119.95].
Written by Roger Slifer and David Kraft with Pencils by Ed Hannigan, Keith Giffen, Ross Andru, Hellcat’s joining of the Defenders first happens here, not as pricey as Avengers #144, this comic has a total of 35 copies on the CGC census. The highest recorded sale happened back in 08/03/2016 on eBay where a 9.8 went for $134.99. If you’re a Patsy Walker completest, you can try for a 9.8 graded copy since they are so affordable. If not, but you like the character, you can get a high grade raw copy of this book on eBay for around $15.00.
