Review: Black Betty #8

Gwen Dylan Stacy

6 years ago

Wew, lads. You know I love a good para-normally adjacent title; they fill me with a satisfaction that I can’t explain. Like a sip of refreshingly cool lemonade on a hot summer’s day, there’s something that quenches that thirst for a little more every time I open the pages of something like Black Betty. Here’s the thing though, it’s not your typical kinda of supernatural. Don’t expect run of the mill magical users. We’re talking hardcore mythological types and a little bit of alchemy laced with rockabilly sensibilities.

This intriguing little title written by Shawn Gabborin really plays on my love for the culture as a young misfit from the days of myspace and high contrast selfies. What I’m trying to say is that something about this really throws me back into that head-space and gives me that warm vibe that comes from connection with one’s reading materials. Escapism back to easier days, though mine weren’t invaded by Harpy’s.

There’s a charming freshness to the art itself; like a fledgling bird taking to flight that I’m sure will find its place in the sky. That’s not to say that the art by Rafael Dantas isn’t lovely, it is. However, I’m going to assume here (and yes I know the adage about doing such) that Dantas is not as seasoned as most veterans within the industry. This could be wrong, of course, but there’s a few minor stutters in the art that make me so inclined to believe so. If not, then it might just be that the dynamic angles of everything, which is understandable. A lot of action panels where the viewer angle changes can become like this because of proportional problems but otherwise it’s quite nice.

I can’t say that I’m able to actively predict anything that might come from the conclusion of the title itself, being that most of it is drenched with thick mythology references and the only thing that really comes to mind is the stuff of possible nightmares and oncoming hardships that Betty might face. Either way, I was actually quite surprised by how easy it was to fall into this Action Lab title. Everything from the dialogue, to the art, to the colors by Rosa “Rosakaz” Rantila (which, again, reflects that sort of old school tattoo flash type temperature palette, everything culminates together in the pages to bring to life something touched by ancient lore but with new life breathed into it.

What did you think of this little 4 out of 5 read? Did it feed your interests or do they lie elsewhere?

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Shawn Gabborin (A) Rafael Dantas (CA) Bill McKay