Patricia "Patsy" Walker is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stuart Little and Ruth Atkinson, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America Magazine #2 (November 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics, and became Hellcat in The Avengers #144 (February 1976). She premiered as the star of a teen romantic-comedy series, and was later integrated into Marvel superhero franchises such as the Avengers and the Defenders as the Hellcat.
Following her reintroduction as Hellcat, the character has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes.
Rachael Taylor portrayed Trish Walker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Luke Cage (2016), and The Defenders (2017).
Publication history
Teen-humor heroine
Created by writer Stuart Little and artist Ruth Atkinson, Patsy Walker first appeared in Miss America Magazine #2 (cover-dated November 1944), published by Marvel precursor Timely Comics. Redheaded Patsy Walker, her parents Stanley and Betty, her boyfriend Robert "Buzz" Baxter, and her raven-haired friendly rival Hedy Wolfe appeared from the 1940s through 1967 in issues of Miss America, Teen Comics, Girls' Life, and the namesake teen-humor series Patsy Walker, as well as in the spin-offs Patsy and Hedy, Patsy and Her Pals, and the single-issue A Date with Patsy. Attesting to its quiet popularity, Patsy Walker (along with Millie the Model and Kid Colt, Outlaw) was among the very few titles published continuously by Marvel from the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books, through Marvel's 1950s iteration as Atlas Comics, and into the 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books.
Future Mad magazine cartoonist and Mad Fold-in creator Al Jaffee wrote and drew most of the early issues of Patsy Walker, several of which included Mad founding editor Harvey Kurtzman's highly stylized "Hey Look!" one-page humor strips. Jaffee was succeeded by Al Hartley, who went to Archie Comics and produced many Christian comic books starring Archie characters and others. Patsy and Her Pals was drawn by Morris Weiss.
thumb|The humor-comic version of Patsy (left) in [[Patsy and Hedy #72 (Oct. 1960), a spinoff of the flagship title Patsy Walker. Cover art by Al Hartley.]]
Following Patsy's high-school graduation in issue #116 (Aug. 1964), the title switched from humor to become a young career-gal romantic adventure. Patsy Walker lasted through issue #124 (Dec. 1965), with Patsy and Hedy outlasting it to its own #110 (Feb. 1967).
Patsy and Hedy made a cameo appearance in Fantastic Four Annual #3 (Oct. 1965), which established them in the Marvel Universe. The superhero-team comic The Defenders #89 (Nov. 1980) reimagined the earlier stories as fictional works published within the fictional world of Marvel's superheroes and written by Patsy's mother, Dorothy Walker, as inspired by Patsy's own life and friends. The Patsy Walker profile in Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook #1 (Feb. 2006) establishes that Walker indeed experienced many of the events from these stories.
Patsy Walker #95 – together with the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery #69 (both June 1961) – are the first modern comic books labeled "Marvel Comics", with each showing an "MC" box on its cover.
Hellcat
The Beast feature in Amazing Adventures #13 (July 1972) introduced the concept of Walker as a superhero. Writer Steve Englehart recalled that Walker's cameo in Fantastic Four Annual #3 had: