The Black Sinister

What if your city’s greatest threat was the superhero sworn to protect it?

The Hero Nobody Deserves

   In the case of Coal City, the citizens are victimized daily by a costumed vigilante known as Black Sinister. Everyone knows that Sinister is actually Coal City’s wealthiest man, Emerson Black. But neither the government nor the court system can stop Black because the millionaire owns all of the city’s resources!

    The story by Kaare Andrews (Renato Jones: the One%) was originally serialized in various issues of Dark Horse Presents. A parody of superheroes and an allegory of the plight of the 99%, the Black Sinister was insane fun. When Black tries to rescue a child from a kidnapper and accidentally kills the boy, the hero mourns. But it’s not for the extinguished life of the child hostage. No, the Black Sinister weeps for the loss of a unit of cheap child labor! Kaare Andrews’ beautifully crafted a character that has several screws loose.

    When it comes to the art, somebody went to the Paul Pope School of Cartooning. The work of Deadworld’s Troy Nixey looks so much like that of Pope’s Batman: Year 100. I had to check several times to make sure it really wasn’t Pope who penciled this book. But I just adored every broken limb, severed artery, and bloated bureaucrat dressed in Napoleonic garb.

Imagine if Batman was as completely bonkers as the Tick, emotionally fragile as Iron Man and written by Howard Chaykin AND Frank Miller. That is the Black Sinister in a nutshell. And I loved it! I only hope that the Black Sinister will return to terrorize the citizens of Coal City once more sometime soon!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Review was originally published June 27, 2017 on outrightgeekery.com