Black Cat First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #194 Value

Black Cat first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194, cover-dated July 1979. Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum created her, and the issue was drawn by the series' regular penciller at the time, Keith Pollard (Wikipedia).

Wolfman first wanted her as a female foil for Spider-Woman and based her on the Tex Avery cartoon Bad Luck Blackie. When he moved to The Amazing Spider-Man he took the character with him. One detail you can check on a copy: the bottom of the letters page in #194 shows a thumbnail of the cover that had been planned for Spider-Woman #9 (December 1978) (Wikipedia).

PriceCharting values by grade, retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $187.50
• 4.0: $157.43
• 6.0: $211.28
• 8.0: $302.48
• 9.2: $395.00
• 9.8: $1,950.00

Recent sales on the same page include a CGC 9.2 at $365 on September 24, 2026 and a CGC 9.8 at $1,850 on August 31, 2026. Ungraded copies sell about once a day, 8.0 and 9.2 about once a week, 9.8 about once a month.

The ungraded figure sits above the 4.0 figure because it averages raw copies in every condition, including sharp ones. The big jump is from 9.2 to 9.8: roughly five times the money for the top grade, so a copy that could reach 9.8 is the one worth sending to a grader. Fees are on our CGC grading cost page.

Felicia Hardy is the daughter of the cat burglar Walter Hardy. She first appeared breaking into a police precinct to free her dying father from prison. At first she had no superhuman powers and relied on burglary skills and martial arts; later the Kingpin arranged for her to get psionic "bad luck" powers, and Doctor Strange's tampering gave her cat-like abilities for a time (Wikipedia).

Her relationship with Spider-Man is the core of the character. When he unmasked for her, she told him to put the mask back on, because she preferred the mystery of Spider-Man to Peter Parker (Wikipedia).

Yes, she is written as bisexual. Screen Rant reported on April 15, 2021 that Black Cat #5, written by Jed MacKay with art by Michael Dowling, made her past romance with her old friend Tamara Blake explicit. An earlier issue of MacKay's run had hinted at it by showing the two holding hands under a table (Screen Rant).

Catwoman, by 39 years. She debuted as "the Cat" in Batman #1, cover-dated spring 1940 and published April 25, 1940 (Wikipedia, Catwoman). Black Cat arrived in July 1979. Wolfman has said he never thought of Catwoman when he created Felicia (Wikipedia). Values for Batman #1 are on our Catwoman first appearance page.

As a character, Spider-Man is older: he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in August 1962 (Wikipedia), 17 years before Black Cat. Inside the stories, Wikipedia gives no fixed age for Felicia; her backstory places her at Empire State University as a freshman before she became Black Cat. See our Spider-Man first appearance page for Amazing Fantasy #15.

Yes. Miles Morales was created as the son of a Black American father and an Afro-Puerto Rican mother when he debuted in Ultimate Fallout #4 (August 2011), by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli. Bendis has said Donald Glover wearing Spider-Man pajamas in an episode of Community pushed him toward the idea (Wikipedia). Values are on our Miles Morales first appearance page.

• Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do: Kevin Smith began writing it in 2002; after the third issue it paused until 2005.
• Marvel Comics Presents #57 (August 1990): she starred in the 8-page story "The Crown Jewel Caper".
• Black Cat (2019): an ongoing series by Jed MacKay debuted in June 2019, with a relaunch in 2020.
• Black Cat (2025): a new series by G. Willow Wilson and Gleb Melnikov was announced in May 2025 to start in August 2025.

All dates from Wikipedia. These later books are common; the value sits in #194.

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014): Felicity Jones played Felicia Hardy
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series: voiced by Jennifer Hale
• The Spectacular Spider-Man: voiced by Tricia Helfer
• Spider-Man (2017 animated): voiced by Grey DeLisle
• Spider-Noir: Li Jun Li, live action

Games include Spider-Man (2000), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Web of Shadows and Edge of Time (Wikipedia).

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them. See spot a fake or restored comic.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. Check the letters page too: the Spider-Woman #9 cover thumbnail at the bottom is a quick way to confirm you have #194 and not a reprint. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo and shows a reference price range that moves with the grade you pick; there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market.