Americans are having a real tough go of it in Amsterdam and Paris. Your Major Spoilers review the latest Comixology Original Black Sight #1 from Comixology Originals, awaits!
BLACK SIGHT #1
Writers: Stephanie Phillips and Daleyna Abril
Artists: Conor Doyle and Marco Fodera
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Editor: Will Dennis
Publisher: Comixology Originals
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Previously in Black Sight: A pair of Americans, in two different years, have each come to Europe for different reasons. Yet, both find themselves on a similar path and it’s unclear who’s putting them on it.
YELLOW AND CHARTREUSE
Black Sight #1 opens with an American woman named Alex telling the story of a night she went out in Amsterdam in 1964. She explains that she only drank a little and didn’t do any drugs. At one point she starts to feel sick and an older man attempts to take her to his place to help her. A woman in a yellow dress intervenes and convinces Alex to come home with her. The two spend the night together, yet when Alex wakes up in the morning, the other woman is covered in blood and dead. The cops arrive soon afterward. Things then shift to an interrogation room where Alex is telling her story as others look on. A backup story starts with a man speaking to a therapist. Things flashback to 1952 in Paris. The man is an artist drinking at a cafe, he’s approached by an acquaintance who invites him to a different place to meet some of his friends. He has a disagreement with these new friends and tries to leave but his acquaintance stops him and buys him a glass of chartreuse, after which the artist begins to start seeing things.
LEANING HEAVILY ON ATMOSPHERE AND STYLE
Black Sight #1 is a solid introduction to this series and actually manages to utilize the two stories inside of it equally to create a foundation for things to come. Now, I won’t say that the road that this series is treadi\ng so far isn’t one that hasn’t already been walked down, because that would be lying. What I will say though, is that this issue utilizes the comic book medium in an extraordinary way in order to separate itself from similar stories. It’s difficult to separate the story from the art here because the visuals are so key to the storytelling here. One good example of this is during the sex-scene between Alex and the woman she meets, the images of them together are intercut with scenes from a shock therapy session. The artist utilizes the poses and positions in both scenes to show the symmetry between them, while also hammering home the fact that Alex is telling this story from a bad place in a more visceral way than narration on its own could do. There’s also a nice throughline between the two stories that hint at an ongoing mystery that feels more fleshed out because of the two different years being used than just one of those stories would have been able to do.
A BIT HEAVY ON THE INKS
As mentioned before, the art in this one is absolutely integral to how the story is told here and that role seeps into the style. Conor Doyle uses a very sketchy style with some heavy watercolor-esque coloring on top of it, reminiscent of Alex Maleev’s work. This style fits well and helps portray that this story is being told by someone who’s memory might be a bit fuzzy, in that there’s a lot of distortion and mission detail here. At times though, it gets laid on pretty thick, making some of the characters not necessarily look like they’re missing details, but that they’re just straight-up disfigured or missing teeth.
BOTTOM LINE: I THINK I’M IN
Titles released as Comixology Originals tend to be really hit or miss, but they tend to at the very least feel fresh and just a bit removed from the mainstream. That’s definitely the case with Black Sight #1. You’ve most likely seen this story played out in other places, but this is still worth a read. The use of the medium to help tell the story is enjoyable and the hanging threads are interesting enough to see where they lead. Just hope that in future issues the art can be a little less distracting. 4 out of 5 stars.
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Black Sight #1
Black Sight #1 takes a familiar story and tells it as only a comic book can. The art can be a bit distracting in places, but all in all it’s a stylish and engaging read.
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Writing8
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Art7
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Coloring8
At a young age, Jonathan was dragged to a small town in Wisconsin. A small town in Wisconsin that just so happened to have a comic book shop. Faced with a decision to either spend the humid summers and bitter winters traipsing through the pine trees or in climate controlled comfort with tales of adventure, horror, and romance, he chose the latter. Jonathan can often be found playing video games, board games, reading comics and wincing as his “to watch” list grows wildly out of control.