Black Cat

The first and best Black Cat was this Harvey Comics heroine often drawn by Lee Elias. She didn’t actually have any super powers…unless you count the ability to hurtle about on her bike in a skimpy costume without apparantly feeling the cold !! She was however an expert in Judo and martial arts as well as having a “secret identity” as a movie star. As the fad for super heroes waned in the 1950s she traded her motorbike for a horse. Towards the end she no longer even appeared in her own comic when it was renamed “Black Cat Mystery” !!

One of her highly effective ways of defeating the villains was by landing on top of them from a great height !!

In 1963 Harvey tried again with The Black Cat. Finding back issues of these comics in the late 1960s sent me on a quest to obtain (then amazingly reasonably priced) Golden Age comics featuring this character.

I wonder why the last panel was printed sideways ?? It looks like it really ought to have been a full page pin-up.

The Black Cat’s “Judo Tricks” were evidently popular enough to be mentioned on the covers. Actually I practiced all these on my younger brother and they would prove to be of value when used against a real potential mugger who didn’t expect me to push him backwards whilst using my leg to sweep his legs off the ground. Remember that one. Thanks Black Cat !!