BLACKMASK STUDIO
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Kwanza Osajyefo
DESIGNER: Tim Smith 3
ART: Jamal Igle
INKS: Robin Riggs
TONES: Derwin Roberson
LETTERS: Dave Sharpe
COVER: Khary Randolph
44pp, B&W and some Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2017)
“Chapter Six”
Black was a comic book miniseries created by Kwanza Osajyefo and Tim Smith 3. This comic book was first introduced to the public as a Kickstarter project seeking to earn $29,999, but ultimately earned almost $100,000. Black is set in a world where only Black people have super-powers.
Black was written by Osajyefo; drawn by Jamal Igle (pencils) and Robin Riggs (inks); toned by Derwin Roberson and Sarah Stern; and lettered by Dave Sharpe. Khary Randolph was the series cover artist.
Black opened with Officer Ellen Waters of the New York Police Department (NYPD) recounting a shocking incident. She witnessed three young Black teenagers mistakenly identified as three perpetrators of an armed robbery. All three were subsequently shot to death in a hail of bullets fired by White police officers. Officer Waters also witnessed one of the three teens, Kareem Jenkins, get up from his injuries as if he were never harmed. What Waters did not realize was that the truth behind Jenkins miraculous survival was even more mind-blowing. He had super-powers – called Quarks.
Black #6 opens at “Negromuerte,” the research facility that is also a prison. Here, Black people with super-powers are imprisoned so that they can be the subjects of experimentation designed to replicate their powers. Recently imprisoned there, Kareem has discovered that his cellmate is the Black super-powered terrorist, “O,” who is determined to kill Negromeurte's director and lead scientist, Theodore Mann. Now, it is Mann vs. “O,” with Kareem caught in the middle.
As I wrote in my review of Black #1, I remember the Kickstarter campaign for Black, and I was impressed by what the team behind it presented to the public. I stated that I was shocked by how successful the campaign was, as it reached its campaign goal in a short time before going on to raise about three times that goal.
That Kickstarter campaign assured the Black would indeed become a full-fledged comic book project. Since Black #6 was published last year, the series has been optioned for film and a sequel miniseries and an original graphic novel set in that world were announced (with the graphic novel recently being published and reportedly being sold out).
Black #1 was awkward and a bit ungainly, but it was hard to deny the boldness and audacity of its concept. Black #6 is, of course, more polished. Jamal Igle's compositions are solid and his graphic storytelling pops off the page. Robin Riggs' inks on Igle pencil's give the art a solidity and firmness the art seemed to lack in that first issue. The tones (basically coloring for black and white illustrations) by Derwin Roberson are superb and bring beauty and strength to Igle and Riggs illustrations. Yes, Dave Sharpe's lettering is... sharp and conveys power to the story.
I think that the thing I most enjoy about Kwanza Osajyefo's storytelling is simply that it exists. It takes backbone and balls of steel to both create a comic book that says only black people have super-powers, and then to release it to a market that serves an aging white male fan-base. And this is a base that often bristles when presented with black comic book characters that do not “know their place” in fictional comic book worlds like the Marvel and DC Comics universes.
I like that Osajyefo brings diversity and variety to the way his characters speak. I like that Osajyefo ultimately lets Kareem Jenkins be a really free black man. I like that there will be more from the world of Black. It is too Black and too proud to be a one-time thing.
9 out of 10
[This comic book includes a preview of the comic book, Calexit, from Black Mask Studio.]
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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