Saturday, June 15, 2013

365 Comics...166: The Black Beetle #4 (2013)

Francesco Francavilla, over the 5 issues (0 issue plus 1-4) of The Black Beetle, has become one of my favourite artists in comics.  I wasn't necessarily all that enthusiastic about him when he would take over for Jock on Scott Snyder's Batman run, but that was more a result of the shock between differences in the artist styles, and since I was more familiar with Jock's work, I preferred it at the time.  But through the Black Beetle, where Francavilla has designed a story to cater to his own strengths as well as his own interests as a storyteller, and as a result he's really exploded all over the page.  The reader gets a full sense of Francavilla's talent, his ingenuity and creativity, his sense of humour and his darker tendencies, and a bevvy of artistic, literary and cinematic influences, not to mention his impeccable design sensibilities.

If you're a studier of sequential art, this is a must read.
If you're a fan of pulp vigilantes, ditto.
If you just enjoy a fun romp of a comic, check it out.
Thank me later.


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