Warning: contains spoilers for Iron Man #8!
There have been some pretty awful couples in the Marvel Universe, but Iron Man #8 just confirmed that the absolute worst of them will never be getting back together. In this issue, readers discover that Patricia Walker, AKA Hellcat is literally horrified by the thought of reuniting with her ex-husband, Daimon Hellstrom, AKA the Son of Satan. The two met and fell in love while they were members of the Defenders, however their story did not end well, leading to the the darkest moment of Hellcat's life.
In Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #14 by Warren Ellis and Peter Gross, Hellcat was badly traumatized when the true face of her husband, Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, was revealed to her. Taking advantage of her mental state, Deathurge pushed the former Avenger to kill herself, and even though she was eventually brought back to life, this moment is not something that she has easily forgotten. When it happened, it was glossed over as more of a villain causing her death, but the latest run of Iron Man has treated this moment with more nuance, exploring the lasting effects on Patsy's mental health.
Iron Man #8 - from writer Christopher Cantwell, artist Angel Unzueta, color artist Frank D'Armata, and letterer Joe Caramagna - sees Hellcat confronting her mental blocks as ally Moondragon attempts to return her former psionic powers. The wildly powerful villain Korvac must be stopped, and that means that although Moondragon once stripped Patsy of her mental powers, now she agrees they must be reinstated, but that means Hellcat has to confront her darkest fears and come out of the other side. In doing so, Patsy shows that getting back together with Hellstrom is a deeply rooted fear, and something which horrifies her on a visceral level.
Moondragon brings Patsy back to High School, where the Principal in her mind is none other than Daimon Hellstrom. He begs her to come back to him, going so far as to say she is breaking his heart, but Hellcat holds strong saying that she cannot go back there, that she won't. The thought of being reunited with Daimon is literally terrifying her, and that is when she changes scenery to lying in bed, with a straight razor and her mother standing over her. Another change and she is locked up in a mental institution wearing a straight jacket. This is when Moondragon explains she needs to set her fear free and accept it, hold it, and embrace it. With that, she emerges from her own mind, more powerful than ever.
Thanks to the help of Moondragon, Hellcat seems to have gained a new measure of acceptance of her worst moment, but it's clear that Hellcat and Hellstrom's relationship won't be the typical 'on again, off again' affair that many characters engage in, and nor will it be the quasi-comedic bad break-up it's been presented as in the past. With her restored psionic powers, Hellcat is able to save Tony Stark's new team by forcing Korvac to relive his own trauma. Now, they need to rescue Iron Man, and hope they're not too late to stop Korvac claiming Galactus' power as his own.
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