Black Market #4

by Frank J. Barbiere, Victor Santos & Adam Metcalfe

It’s pretty safe to say that BOOM! Studios have the creator-owned mini-series market on lockdown. They have a few going at any given time ranging from every spectrum of genre the comic’s medium has to offer. This week the fourth and final issue of Black Market hit the stands and turned this short series on its head.

Black Market was a superhero comic that focused more on how regular citizen’s deal with a world filled with supers. Trying to use the blood of heroes to cure various diseases was certainly an interesting way to tell a human story in a superhuman world. Poor scientist Raymond Willis seems forced into this situation by both the desire to heal his wife and the desire to help his older brother. Barbiere really threw a twist into this last issue that was pretty unexpected. Black Market was a pretty fun story but this last issue really made it stand out and beg for a reread.

Visually Black Market is incredibly striking from Metcalfe’s bright vibrant colors to Santos’s playful layout designs. Santo’s style of inks does have the familiar feel of Michael Avon Oeming’s style. It can be expected since they both work on The Mice Templar, but Santos still maintains his own unique flair. The double page spread of Ultra’s crashing arrival on a bank heist was equal parts cool and intense. Using this particular art team on this book was a valiant decision that ended up making Black Market stand out.

Anyone who likes seeing a twisted take on the superhero genre will derive a lot of pleasure out Black Market. For only being four issues it felt longer but not drug out. Just a fantastic story that was perfectly paced. Sometimes there are just too many ongoing series out there. It seems like many have forgotten the art of the limited series. It’s nice to be able to just pick up some fun to read for a couple months and not have to commit years to it. Black Market is a series that might have went under a few radars that you should consider checking out.