After three issues can this determined vigilante rise to the challenge and thwart the plans of evil?  Should you even care?  Read on to find out.

The official description from  Dynamite:

The Black Bat continues his redemptive quest to right the wrongs of his alter-ego Tony Quinn. But, before pursuing criminal kingpin Oliver Snate, Black Bat steals a page from Robin Hood to come up with the resources to fund his campaign. Also, Quinn’s past unfolds as he recalls his first meeting with Carol Baldwin.

The plot thickens as our hero charges forward after his goals, including a very apparent connection to his main bad guy.  The creative team has certainly brought their game to a whole new level with these proceedings as they quickly and quite effectively set up the future for this pulp originated franchise.

Brian Buccellato pens the script and the author delivers a competent outing that only stumbles ever so slightly near the end.  By allowing our blind former attorney turned vigilante to really sink his teeth into his quest for vengeance the scribe has been able to build up his supporting cast of characters while solidifying our heroes distinguishing features.  I did find several sequences to be far too predictable, especially when the saga called for a heartfelt “I’m sorry” scenario.  Scenes similar to that felt more or less forced but it didn’t stop the entire package from being a wildly entertaining and largely rewarding ride.

The art by Ronan Cliquet is superb as the talent effortlessly brings a moody but altogether compelling adventure to believable life.  Using thick and fine pencil strokes to strategically build lightly realized forms it’s clear from page one the man behind this knows exactly what he’s going for.  It’s true that he relied heavily on the colors by Mat Lopes to fully realize their potential therein but I literally have no complaints about these illustrations, especially considering that they pulled me into the fray.

The Black Bat #3 is an absolutely thrilling outing that uses action and suspense to effectively navigate its way forward as it moves the plot.  Recommended.

4/5