Hellcat is the name of a superhero, created by Marvel Comics in the middle of the 1940s. Is the pseudonym of Patricia Walker, a character created by Ruth Atkinson, who was introduced to the public in Miss America Magazine, under her full name, and became known as Hellcat only by the middle of the 1970s.
Meaning and history
As a little girl, Patricia “Patsy” Walker was the heroine of a comic book scripted by her mother. Since her childhood, Patsy admired humans with super abilities and decided to become one of them by donning the Tigers costume. She named herself Hellcat.
Patsy helped the Avengers and worked alongside the Defenders for years. She even married the magician Damon Hellstorm. The couple moved to San Francisco and became detectives specializing in the paranormal and unexplainable. Patsy later went to hell but was rescued from there by Falcon Eyes and the Thunderbirds. When she returned, she became a superhero again, and then went to Alaska to defend it as part of the 50 States Initiative.
So what is the main superpower of the Hellcat? The heroine is known for her psionic, or psychic, abilities, which means she uses her mind to induce paranormal phenomena.
As for the visual identity, Hellcat is recognized by her bright yellow leotard costume and a black cat mask, and this is what we can see on the logo of the superhero. The graphical badge doesn’t have any lettering accompanying it, and can be seen both in a black and yellow and black-on-white color palette.
The Hellcat emblem features an image of a black cat half-mask with small sharp ears and rounded eyes cut-outs. The mark is placed on a solid background and enclosed into a thick circular frame, in black. Depending on the color of the background — black or intense yellow — the mask looks stronger or more elegant. This, when executed in the monochrome color palette, the drawing is stronger and evokes a sense of danger and power, while on the yellow badge, the cat mask is more playful and feminine.