Pretty much an ACDC song in comic form
I went into this book with absolutely no knowledge at all about either of the two main characters. I got no idea who blue devil is, and Black Lightning is that guy who controls lightning (he's a black hero, of course he controls lightning) and has a mildly racist name. So this was DC's opportunity to get me interested in these two characters, and for the most part, they sold me.
Blue Devil's origin... is basically Spider-man. Like almost entirely. Not only that, but he's an acrobatic quip machine. But you know what? He's damn entertaining, and there's an inherent zaniness too him that just makes me grin as I see him hop around. The nature of his abilities is also something that hooked me in, especially it's potential history, so I give him a thumbs up.
Black Lightning on the other hand gave me mixed feelings. I always pictured him, being a teacher, to be a warm, yet stern, Cosby-esque father figure. And for the most part you can see hints of this in the scenes where he's out of costume, but in costume he acts very immaturely, and sounds to me to be far younger than he is. Still, he's likable enough, and hopefully the main casts different personalities will deliver some nice contrasts in the next few issues.
As I said, there's a certain kind of quirky charm that does wonders for this book, from the personality of Blue Devil, to the almost ridiculous looking Mob boss. Thankfully, though, none of that takes away from the storytelling or drama being built, and gives us an enjoyable story. The main complaint I have is that more time should have been devoted to fleshing out the backgrounds of the heroes and the relationship with their family, but I expect that since this is a very self-contained, limited run, some sacrifices had to be made.
The art is solid throughout, but I did find the guns the gangsters were using to be very weird. While I loved Blue Devil's costume design, I find Black Lightning's to be kind of dull and boring.
At the very least, this book left me craving a series featuring Blue Devil, and hopefully as the book goes on Black Lightning will grow on me too. It's a fun story, so give it a shot.
0 Comments