Defense attorney by day, armored vigilante by night..? Your Major Spoilers review of The Black Knight #1 awaits!
THE BLACK KNIGHT #1
Writer: Joe Brusha/Ralph Tedesco/Dave Franchini/Terry Kavanagh
Artist: Sergio Ariño
Colorist: Robby Bevard
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Editor: Christina Barbieri
Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 10, 2018
Previously in The Black Knight: Defense attorney Peyton Parks’ life is anything but normal or average. After being given the powers of The Black Knight from the Book of Fables, she has been riding the line of the legal system between attorney and vigilante. Now with her life finally slowing down some, a new threat has emerged from the shadows and Peyton may be the only one with the power to stop it.
OLD-SCHOOL MARVEL-STYLE STORYTELLING
This issue opens in the classic style, with a big fight. The Black Knight is in a courtroom, defending innocents from a squad of goons with automatic weaponry, fighting bullets with the power of 11th century slashiness. As the battle continues, we get a flashback to Peyton Parks, the Knight’s daytime identity, and the frustrations of her life and chosen career. (Apparently, the first appearance and origin of The Black Knight was already shown in a previous issue of ‘Grimm Fairy Tales’ which is one of the first, but definitely not the last part of this book that feels like Jim Shooter-era Marvel.) Peyton’s flashback ends with her drawing her sword and transforming, leading us right back into the battle which ends in a rather bloody fashion, with some severed limbs and much more blood than I expected. The police arrive to secure the crime scene, but The Black Knight summons her trusty steed and busts right through the wall to escape in a pretty cool scene. Elsewhere, evil forces are seen to coalesce (also in some really gross and bloody ways) against her…
SOME REALLY INTRICATE DESIGN WORK
I have to say I really like the design of the main character, even with the trademark Zenescope deeeeep cleavage, and her helmet is really well-designed and rendered on every page of The Black Knight #1. The battle sequences are frenetic and exciting, with some problems in clarity of storytelling, but no issues with consistency or design. The last page shadowy sorta-reveal of a new villain is really successful visually as well. As for the story, there’s a lot going on here and the walls of text and exposition are another portion of the issue that feels very retro. For my part, I like it, even though there’s quite a bit of story that clearly ties into previous issues and/or other parts of the GFT universe, as everything you need to know to enjoy this issue is provided for us. The familiarity of tone and premise works both for and against the story, as all the old-school comic moments make it relatively easy to predict what comes next, but all in all, it’s a decent first issue for a character who has potential.
BOTTOM LINE: NOT A BAD START
I picked up this issue based entirely on the strength of the cover, and while it wasn’t a perfect first issue, it was a solid read and didn’t disappoint on several fronts. The Black Knight #1 has a little bit of classic Bronze Age, a little bit of the ol Zenescope blood, guts and sexy-sexy, a really strong character design and some clever story moments that make for a better-than-average read and 3 out of 5 stars overall. I will be on the lookout for the next issues of this book and I hope to see it get even better.
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