Black #5
Publisher: Black Mask
Writer: Kwanza Osajyefo
Artist: Tim Smith 3 & Jamal Igle
Colorist: Derwin Roberson
Cover: Khary Randolph
Black serves up one of its strongest issues yet as we go deeper into this world where only Black people have superpowers. The reason behind this phenomenon is still unclear but Juncture does shed some light on the matter during a conversation with Detective Waters in an attempt to gain her help with rescuing Kareem from the secret facility that is housing super powered individuals.
Osajyefo splits the issue into the search for Kareem while also exploring the black site and introducing new characters into the story. The world-building here continues to expand and improve with every issue thanks to Osajyefo’s fleshing out of the characters in a way that makes you want to learn more. As he peels back several layers of the mystery here we see strong dialogue and character moments between Juncture and Detective Waters who is still not very trusting of him at the moment. It’s also great that he gives this hard edged Detective a genuine feeling of shock and surprise as she’s thrown into this new world but she still manages to be a driving force during those sequences. When we shift over to Kareem we see that the young man is full of surprises but so is his cellmate, Overdrive. Osajyefo hides this character’s intentions very well but the reveal is smooth and organic in a way that you might miss it if you don’t pay attention.
The artwork in Black continues to be some of the best because Jamal Igle, Robin Riggs, and Derwin Roberson kick ass every single page in this issue. It’s refreshing that even for a black and white comic that it still finds many areas to be bright and energetic. Not one page is muddied with dark tones that take away from Igle’s awesome work. The characters are detailed, expressive, and he gives us some fantastic action sequences which culminate into an ending that is classic in many superhero comics.
Black is asking some important questions and challenging certain concepts all while delivering one of the coolest superhero comics out right now. So it’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already and if you’re reading this series now then just know that this issue is damn near the best of the series so far!
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
