The Blacklist, Volume 1: The Gambler

There comes a line in every couple's marriage which can never be crossed. For my wife, it's being a fan of James Spader. I can like him but I'm not allow to watch anything with him in it. Okay, I can, but my wife doesn't want to watch it with me or even be in the same house if he's on the telly. For some reason, he gives my wife the heebie-jeebies. 

Thus, I've never seen an episode of the Blacklist. 

So how did I come across this book? Ironically, you can blame my wife for that! I got a Comic Bento Box as a gift from her and this was one of the books in it! Needless to say, I didn't let my wife off the hook without a good ribbing or two about the irony of this. 

This volume focuses on one of the bad guys on Red Reddington's Blacklist. It's a complex story of deceit, espionage and double crossing. I'd be lying if I said I understood all the aspects of this story, having never seen the show. But I really enjoyed this book. 

The story was written by showrunner Nicole Dawn Phillips. I'm glad that someone so close to the TV show was doing this as I think I would have been really lost without her to guide me along. 

The artwork was by True Blood's Beni Lobel. It was a mixed bag. James Spader's Red didn't look anything like the actor. (The cover is great though. Whomever did that did a great job!) But everything else looked really good. Now, whether the other characters looked anything like their real-life counterparts, is beyond me. But I liked most of the art here.

There's one more volume of Blacklist stories. While I am not actively searching them out, if I came across them for the right price, I would definitely give it a read. A nice job at a non-Doctor Who title by Titan. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.