Pat Walker

Although they occasionally dated other people, Buzz Baxter and Patsy Walker were high school sweethearts. As a sign of their deepening connection, Buzz eventually started calling her Pat from time to time, while everyone else still knew her as Patsy. Rival classmate Hedy Wolfe, meanwhile, often referred to her as Red.

The covers of Patsy Walker #112 (Dec. 1963) and #114 (April 1964) show Buzz Baxter calling her Pat.

Graduation Day

Patsy Walker could have remained a perpetual teen. But that changed in Patsy and Hedy #95 (August 1964), when Patsy and her pals graduated from high school. While Patsy and rival Hedy Wolfe had their eyes set on being valedictorian, mutual friend Nan Brown had the highest marks and recieved the honor. Graduation was one of many steps on Patsy's path to becoming Hellcat.

Mickey Walker

Patsy Walker's kid brother, Mickey, was a recurring character in comic books. As a running gag, Mickey would extort money in exchange for giving Patsy privacy with her boyfriend, Buzz Bazter. Different renditions of Mickey appear on the covers of Miss America #71 (Aug. 1955) and Patsy and Hedy #78 (Oct. 1961).

Scaredy Cat

A sight gag on the cover of Patsy and Hedy #7 (Sept. 1952) pictured the two friends double dating at the movies. Patsy's boyfriend, Buzz, was so frightened by The Bride of the Vampire that he clung to Hedy's date. In contrast, Patsy Walker #93 (Feb. 1961) showed Patsy clutching Buzz in fear at the sight of a mouse. The symbolism of the two scenes takes on additional subtext when we consider that Patsy later becomes the happy-go-lucky Hellcat and marries the Son of Satan (after divorcing Buzz, who then becomes the villain Mad-Dog).

  

Double Trouble

Hedy Wolfe was envious of Patsy Walker's popularity—so envious, in fact, that when she ran into a young woman who happened to be the spitting image of Patsy, Hedy concocted a plan to destroy Patsy's reputation. Hedy offered to buy the mystery woman a new dress if she insulted Patsy's closest friends. The mystery woman, who was in town visiting her aunt, agreed. Hedy's plan worked at first but eventually unraveled when she mistook the real Patsy for the imitator. After learning the truth, Patsy's friends held no grudges against her for the things the impostor had said. Meanwhile, the fake Patsy fled with the new dress, having never divulged her true name.

Patsy Walker. Vol. 1. No. 109. September 1963. "Patsy's Troublesome Twin!" Part Two: The End of a Scheme!"

Disappearing Act

Although the covers of Patsy Walker comic books sometimes referenced the stories within, the covers often worked as stand-alone gags. Such was the case with Patsy and Her Pals #22 (May 1956). That cover showed Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe fighting for the attention of Buzz Baxter at a magic show starring Presto the Magician. While it would have made for a creative setting, the magic show did not appear inside the issue. Incidentally, Presto closely resembled longtime comic character Mandrake the Magician, who would become one of the anachronistic Defenders of the Earth.

Gals on the Go-Go!

The cover of Patsy and Hedy #109 introduced a new tagline for the series, referring to the duo as "Gals on the Go-Go!" Now employed as newspaper reporters, Patsy and Hedy thwarted a spy ring and other dangers far outside the scope of their earlier adventures in high school. The change of pace was short lived, however, as the series ended with #110. That being said, this brazen version of Patsy Walker was an important step toward her future career as the superheroine Hellcat.

Patsy and Hedy. Vol. 1. No. 109. December 1966. "Surf-Side Spies!" Stan Lee (editor), Denny-O (writer), Al Hartley (artist).

Patsy and Hedy's Apartment

After Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe graduated from high school, the words "Career Girls" began appearing on the cover of their series beginning with Patsy and Hedy #96. The two young women began sharing an apartment and the comic book adopted a soap opera tone.

This annotated apartment layout appeared in Patsy and Hedy #101 (August 1965).

Psychic Disguise

Long before she honed her own psychic abilities as Hellcat, a teenage Patsy Walker received an unexpected visit from a swami carrying a crystal ball. Underneath the turban and fake mustache was Buzz Baxter, Patsy's recurring love interest. Buzz wanted to surprise Patsy and make up with her after storming out earlier that evening. He had jumped to the conclusion that Patsy had lost interest in him when their plans to spend time together kept getting intruded upon. But Buzz discovered that jealous classmate Hedy Wolfe had orchestrated the series of interruptions as a plot to break up the young couple (Patsy and Hedy #49).

This panel of Patsy Walker and a disguised Buzz Baxter comes from Patsy and Hedy #49 (January 1957).

Reversal

Defenders #89 established that the early Patsy Walker comics were actually fictionalized accounts of the heroine's teenage years before she became Hellcat. That metatext was previously referenced in Patsy and Hedy #78.

Tired of being portrayed in a negative light, Hedy Wolfe took a train to New York City to complain to the creative team responsible for Patsy and Hedy Magazine. Unless changes took place, Hedy said, her father would buy the publication and fire them. In response to that threat, the following issue depicted Hedy as kind and understanding while Patsy came across as petty and jealous. The plan backfired, however. Hedy's friends described the new story as an unbelievable satire and laughed at her expense. All the more infuriated, Hedy demanded that the magazine go back to portraying her as they originally had.

This illustration from Patsy and Hedy #78 (Oct. 1961) shows a comic book within the pages of the comic book.

Cat Costume

Patsy Walker eventually became a superhero when she found the costume worn by the original Cat. Coincidentally, exposition on the cover of Patsy and Hedy #47 (Nov. 1956) noted that teenage Patsy had her eye on a cat costume for a masquerade party. Although that situation didn't appear as a story inside the comic book, the cover provides some subtext (albeit unintentional) for Patsy's adult alias as Hellcat.

Heavenly Hair Styles

Before Patsy Walker took to wearing a costume as Hellcat, her romance comics regularly included pages with her modeling various clothing fashions or hair styles. The same was true for Patsy's friend and rival Hedy Wolfe. This page of "Patsy's Heavenly Hair Styles" comes from Patsy and Hedy #97 (Dec. 1964).

The Making of Mad-Dog

Published two decades before Patsy Walker become Hellcat, Patsy and Hedy #46 reads almost like an origin story for Buzz Baxter becoming the supervillain known as Mad-Dog.

Patsy dated Buzz regularly in high school. But when his car kept breaking down, Patsy insisted that Buzz get a new car. Pressured by Patsy and a handful of their friends, Buzz traded in his car at Mad-Dog Cur Used-Cars. The new car, however, proved almost as unreliable as his old jalopy had been.

Later that issue, Patsy turned down Buzz when he asked her to go for a drive—or on any kind of date for that matter. Classmate Hedy Wolfe, who also pined for Buzz, spoke to him about Patsy's behavior.

Hedy: Can't you see how she treats you? She takes you for granted like you were the family dog!

To make Patsy jealous, Hedy suggested that Buzz start dating her instead. Hedy then told Patsy that it was Buzz who had come up with the scheme. Patsy responded by making a date with a stranger who had whistled at her on the street. When Buzz saw the two of them out together, he slugged the unsuspecting fellow. In hindsight, these story elements set the stage for Buzz taking the name Mad-Dog and plotting to disrupt Patsy's wedding to Daimon Helstrom (New Defenders #125).

These panels come from Patsy and Hedy #46 (Oct. 1956).

Chaotic Neutral: Hedy Wolfe

The alignment system popularized by Dungeons & Dragons is worth revisiting, as each of the nine alignments can encapsulate a variety of characters. Often represented as a grid (with Lawful versus Chaotic, with Good versus Evil, and with Neutral tendencies in-between), the alignments describe competing values and potential sources of conflict among characters.

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	True Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

Before she became Hellcat, Patsy Walker appeared in teen romance comics, often sharing the spotlight with classmate Hedy Wolfe. In these stories, Hedy could be spontaneous and abrasive, while envious of Patsy's popularity. Balancing between friend and rival, Hedy's up-and-down disposition would seem Chaotic Neutral.

This take on Hedy Wolfe held true with grown-up depictions of the character, including Marvel Fanfare #59, when Patsy Walker returned to her hometown of Centerville to reunite with old acquaintances. Patsy, like many of the Defenders, would lean toward Chaotic Good.

Patsy and Hedy starred together in a series that spanned most of the 1950s and 1960s.

Love and Hate

Visiting her hometown of Centerville, New Jersey, was painful for Patsy Walker. Aunt Sofia complained that adventuring as Hellcat and marrying Daimon Hellstrom had tainted the image of Patsy Walker that previously appeared in comic books. Childhood friend Hedy Wolfe was unceasingly sarcastic, and neighbors threw a brick through a window to drive Patsy and Daimon out of town (Marvel Fanfare #59).

Much of the hostility toward Patsy came from a misperception that the super-heroine now looked down on her Centerville roots. She rectified the situation at a press conference near the end of her visit.

Marvel Fanfare. Vol. 1. No. 59. October 1991. "The Town and Patsy Walker!" Richard Howell (script, pencils, letters, and colors), Al Milgrom (inks and edits), Tom De Falco (editor-in-chief). Admiringly dedicated to that "prize" pair Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

The back cover of the issue pictured a genre-appropriate cover titled Marvel Romance.

Millie the Metaphor

Guest appearing in Defenders #65, Millie the Model caught up with Patsy Walker and offered her a chance to work at her modeling agency—seemingly oblivious to Patsy's costumed career as Hellcat.

In turning down Millie's job offer, Patsy figuratively gave up a chance to return to the relatively simple existence she once had in the world of of romance comics, where both women began as characters.

Remaining in the Defenders as Hellcat meant proceeding as a three-dimensional character, with all the personal turmoil that might entail.

Patsy Walker entered the world of superheroes innocently enough by observed the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm in Fantastic Four Annual #3. Patsy's friend Hedy Wolfe suggested that Millie the Model was there as well.