Advance Review: King in Black Black Knight #1

I have to admit, my knowledge of the Black Knight is somewhat hazy. I used to think he was a gimmick hero that had no real standing in the Marvel Universe. His stint as an Avenger brought a new relevance to him, especially the love triangle between him, Sersi and Crystal in an Avengers run that is greatly unappreciated. With that concluded, I never gave him much thought. Now, with the world needing all its heroes, it’s time for the Black Knight to ride once more!

Dane Whitman is the wielder of the Ebony Blade, a sword that likes to kill and murder people. Only Dane has the strength of character to resist its dark designs. With Knull on the warpath it’s time for the Avengers Adjacent to assemble. But what will Knull’s tendrils of evil make of the Ebony Blade and how will that affect the Black Knight?

Writer Simon Spurrier produces a script that on first glances reads more like a Sandman book. That is until you actually get past the first couple of pages, after which the script goes for humour over anything else. At times, I find the humour first approach of Marvel editorial to be off putting to say the least. Here is no exception. I am at a loss as to why Spurrier would go down this route as in effect Whitman sounds no different to any other handful of characters, thus making him “plug ‘n’ play” rather than unique. Of course the opposite may well be true; with such an eclectic backstory, having him sound like everyone else is Marvel’s way of applying a common denominator to proceedings. It’s shame that in doing so Whitman loses something. You don’t even have to look very far to see this phenomenon; it happens in this issues as Spurrier shoe-horns Aero and Sword Master in who talk and act the exact some way as Dane! The is a story is quite pacy in places, though through Knull Spurrier gives the reader a kind of off kilter Black Knight history lesson.

The art is provided by Jesús Saiz who works really hard to make this book stand out. The first act in particular is great as are some of the Aero scene and the Knull inspired recap and interaction with Merlin is spectacular. Smaller panels which bridge to the action scenes can be a little less clear. It is as if the photo realism elements don’t work as well, so a level of quality is lost. With no colorer listed, I assume the Saiz pulled double duty. The colors are gorgeous, with no exception. Saiz goes from a painted style of old English comic books to the loudness of Japan without missing a beat. VC’s Cory Petit supplies the fonts for the book using a two-fold approach covering the speech bubbles with a clean spacious style that contradicts the Olde English font used for the monologue. Finally, there are a sway of variant covers; if like me you choose the cover you like, then you cannot go for wrong with the Dan Mora covered, coloured by Tamra Bonvillain.

Reading this book, I am again struck by the amount of tie-in books to main events which have no bearing on the main arc. Therefore King Black Black Knight may well appeal to completists, whether they be King in Black completists or Black Knight ones. Maybe this book proves that Marvel brought back the wrong D Whitman after all!

Writing – 2.5 Stars

Art – 3 Stars

Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Simon Spurrier
Art & Colors by; Jesús Siaz
Letters by; VC’s Cory Petit
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network