ADVANCE REVIEW! Black Market #1

Is this unique twist to the superhero genre a must have or does it fail to impress? Read on to find out.

The official description from BOOM! Studios:

Ray Willis is a broken man, a disgraced medical examiner making ends meet by preparing corpses at a funeral parlor. His scientific genius is being wasted—that is, until his estranged criminal brother Denny shows up on his doorstep, supposedly cleaned up and proposing a once-in-a-lifetime partnership to cure not just cancer, but all disease. The catch? It exists within the DNA of superheroes.

Would you kill a superhero to save the life of a loved one? That’s the dilemma that Ray Willis faces this moral question as Black Market sees him reluctantly work along side his criminal brother Denny in an attempt to find a cure for all the worlds diseases ultimately saving his partner Shannon. This deep story and it’s enthralling events really impressed me and if this is a sign of things to come this’ll be a mini-series to look out for.

Frank Barbiere creates a very intriguing tale in Black Market with the unique twist on the superhero genre being captivating to say the least. Despite this it’s the character depth of Ray Willis that appealed to me the most with his realistic view on life and desire to cure his partner Shannon being very dramatic. Despite all the positives I did find the transition in sequences to be slightly confusing as until the end it was hard to tell what events happened first. Nevertheless once put into perspective and taking on board all the development Barbiere produced an astounding opening issue.

The artwork for this series is handled by Victor Santos the artist behind Mice Templar and Furious. Being no stranger to the superhero genre Santos gives a fabulous look to this series with the emotional facial expressions and intense power sets being very eye catching. His rough pencils and dynamic layouts also give an intense look to the series with the energy being through the roof. Santos is joined by the fabulous Adam Metcalfe whose vivid colours give a mixture of light and dark tones.

Black Market is a unique take on the superhero genre with it’s edgy plot and deep characters making it a must have for comic fans. Highly recommended.