Black Market #2 Review

Good to be the hero.

You know that feeling you get when you think you’re doing something right, while everyone says you’re not. What happens when ‘you’ and ‘everyone’ are the same person?

This is a complicated situation, no questions about it. We empathize with the protagonist and even with some of the other characters in the book. But for everyone, it seems it’s the end that justifies the means – the ‘supers’, the humans…all.

Barbiere is taking a divisive stand but manages to remain neutral, even as the protagonist’s thought bubbles pop up at every step of the way.

Victor Santos’s pencils stay with the Cooke feel and goes right along with the story, especially in creating deeper canvases for flashbacks and quick exposition.

SPOILERS FOLLOW……………

We go to a short while back, as we see Raymond and a fellow doctor perform a post mortem of a unique nature – a bank robber killed with a giant hole where his chest used to be.

It’s hard not to sympathize with Raymond and the dead corpse lying there. The cold body on the slab was probably just trying to make ends meet and he had to pay with his life for his crimes.

Back in the present, we see Ray preparing for a home delivery when his bloodied brother arrives. We learn that at the warehouse, things went badly with the captured ‘Super’ Hotspot and the other member is dying.

Ray continues his descent as he smuggles drugs and medicine out of the store house of the pharmacy even as his boss watches the news running Hotspot’s disappearance.

It's striking that this is the only proper mention of Hotspot, given we never see his fate post-blood donation. It feels like the author is keeping the supers as a catalyst for Ray's transformation, and not fleshing them out and realizing the conflict between the two sides.

 

Biochem and Denny have a meeting with Biochem representative Janine but due to the inferior quality of the sample, he is given a measly ten thousand dollars.

This forces drastic measures as Denny decides to recruit more muscle and connections to reach the supers, first coming across Albert aka Bruiser.

We learn that Albert was one of the first non-powered heroes (and his abilities parallel an early DC Wildcat) who got ‘replaced’ by the supers. To prove his cred, he points out a drunk ‘super’ called the Electric Lad.

Their approach leads to Lad attempting to escape, but his passage through a flat is interrupted by the residents enraged at the ‘Super’s’ errant attacks. 

Raymond, the only one left chasing him after the other two are taken out, poses as a cop after knocking Lad unconscious by turning on the sprinklers.

Coming back home, he is alarmed to see his wife chatting to two of his ‘friends’ – police officers from the precinct.

SPOILERS END……………….

While keeping a neutral tone, the author ponders whether Ray is doing something right or not. The focus is firmly on the human side, which makes it a little biased but not without reason.

So, I give it 7.0 out of 10.

+Some good philosophical musing

+Great visuals

-Feels the viewpoint is a little lopsided

-The timeline jumping is a little jarring