Pocket Comics #1 (1941)
by Alfred Harley (allegedly) & Al Gabriele
cover by Joe Simon
The year 1941 will see the debut of Wonder Woman, so I’m including in the retrospective some of the superheroines that preceded her in the same year.
But I have a feeling 99.99% of readers have never heard of this comic.
“Pocket Comics” was, as you might imagine, a different format than regular comic books: small enough to fit in your pocket.
This had the advantage of allowing for a high page count (100 pages, which is a lot even by the Golden Age)… and the disadvantage that it was very easy to “pocket” it without paying, which contributed to the series lasting only 4 issues.
But another reason for this being obscure is that it’s from Harvey Publications.
Like most publishers they tried superhero comics in the Golden Age, but they’re best known for series like Richie Rich (1953) and for the licensed comics of Casper The Friendly Ghost (1945 in cartoons and 1951 in comics).
Almost none of the characters introduced in Pocket Comics #1 have a lasting legacy, with the exception of one with a surprisingly risqué costume for 1941: the Black Cat.
Black Cat joins the surprisingly long list of Golden Age superheroes that begin their career because they’re just bored and rich.
But also Nazis.
America isn’t even in the war yet, but cats are doing their part.
As an actress, her best way to denounce a Nazi sympathizer and potential spy is to become a superhero.
She might want to workshop that name. If you call yourself Black Cat, shouldn’t your costume include SOME black?
A completely unrelated journalist also gets involved.
Who then runs into Black Cat while both are looking around the director’s house.
This gets her into a catfight with the journalist. Not the best start for a new hero.
In addition to getting into a stalemate with the journalist, she then has to hide to avoid being discovered by the man she’s stalking…
…under the bed.
Our heroine, ladies and gentlemen!
But this allowed them to see the director talk with some actual Nazi spies.
As a reminder, Black Cat is SUPPOSED to be the protagonist.
For a moment I thought the director meant that he inserted subliminal messages into the movie, which might have been a clever idea… but no, he’s just included some coded messages into the dialogue.
I think you’re overestimating the usefulness of this plan, dude… I know they made movies pretty damn fast in the 40s, but it would still take a long time to give message to the agents.
Also: great job protecting your secret identity, Black Cat.
The duo then sneaks into the studio to cut the scenes containing the code.
But the spies have a similar idea, so a fight scene ensues.
Got to love how they inserted any random German word they knew, leading to the guy exclaiming “Blitzkrieg” for no reason.
At least Black Cat’s fight is decent.
What do you call this relationship? Sidekick with benefits?
And so we close the first adventure with Black Cat… leaving the director alone, unharmed with just some scratches on his face.
Historical significance: 2/10
Shockingly enough, Black Cat DOES have a legacy. Kind of.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 1/10
The artwork is better than the Golden Age standard, but not by much. But the story itself is incredibly basic and, let’s face it, Black Cat is just laughable as a hero.
How close is this to the modern DC Comics character? 2/10
Following the demise of Pocket Comics, Black Cat then moves to Speed Comics where she has a serial lasting until 1947.
In issue 23 she even joins forces with other obscure Harvey heroes like Captain Freedom and War Nurse (yes that’s her actual superhero name) to stop Japan from invading Los Angeles.
She was popular enough to receive her own regular series in 1946.
In 1951’s issue 28 she gets her own sidekick Black Kitten, a 13 year old boy.
The series then goes through many title changes: “Black Cat Mysteries” from #29 to #53, and “Black Cat Western” from #54 to #56, then back to “Black Cat Mysteries” for #57 alone, and finally “Black Cat Mystic” from #58 to #62.
Some of these don’t even feature any Black Cat story at all. Her last appearance is probably #56, the last Western one, but it might be a reprint of an older story. They also occasionally did that.
That was in 1955. Since Harvey pivoted to completely different genres, they let their superheroes fall into the public domain.
So… we have a superheroine from the Golden Age with a slightly revealing costume that is now in the public domain.
Take a guess where we see her next?
AC Comics renamed her “She Cat” (later She-Cat), mostly likely to avoid comparison with Marvel’s own Black Cat.
She retains the Hollywood connection at first.
But this version changes almost everything, from her civilian name to her origins.
She has superhuman strength and agility because she’s possessed by Sekhmet, who being an Egyptian goddess was found in a village in South America.
They changed her so much that I wonder why they even bothered based her on Black Cat.
Who they DID confirm was the base for the character, by the way, even if she dresses like Scarlet Witch.
She also regularly turns into a literal cat-woman. And being in Femforce means she’s contractually obligated to turn into a giant at SOME point, because Femforce is not shy about its fetishes.
As of 2024 Femforce is STILL ONGOING, and She-Cat seems to still be a regular…
…both on the main series and the various spinoffs which focus on, uhm, exactly what you’d expect a Femforce spinoff to focus on.
She even received an adaptation in the “micro-budget” movie The Mummy Creeps.
A movie SO obscure that I can’t even find information on IMDB about it.
But I did find someone selling a DVD on the movie on ebay.
I’m not crazy enough to BUY it, mind you, but still.
I couldn’t find any review, but there are three comments from people who bought the DVD.
The Mummy Creeps DVD, without giving away too much, is a self-referential horror super-heroine comedy with an appearance by Femforce’s She-Cat. Loved It!!!!!!!!
ANONYMOUS
great she cat thank you again
ANONYMOUS
thanks
ANONYMOUS
Also you can find the trailer on YouTube, so this movie MIGHT actually exist.
Disclaimer: this is not an endorsement of the movie. If you actually do watch this movie, Comics Archeology is not responsible for any brain damage you might suffer.