By Jacob Cordas — I was very excited to read King in Black - Black Knight #1. Lancelot is my favorite of King Arthur’s knights.* There are better knights, more successful knights, but there are no knights that treat their mental health so fluidly. Lancelot can’t get the holy grail, but he can spend every other story in a state of insanity. He’s the kind of hero who will slay a dragon then spend six pages off his goddamn rocker because he didn’t do the deed dignified enough. Maybe it says more about my mental health, but I found him deeply relatable. And if King In Black: Black Knight #1 is any demonstration so does Simon Spurrier (who of late did fantastic work on John Constantine: Hellblazer**).

King In Black: Black Knight #1 is a delightful love letter to the weirdest corners of Arthurian Romance, the bits and baubles that have been sanded down over the years. Black Knight is a character who speaks to every part of those stories I adore: he is delightfully unhinged, a hero narrating his adventure not as a demonstration of meta understanding of the world but to show deteriorating mental health. He’s equal parts mischievous and moonstruck, a truly modern take on a character that never gets enough credit.

Artist Jesús Saiz understands this perfectly and brings a classical fantasy feeling to every page. His art shines leaning into the fantastical elements. His depiction of everything from a pegasus to a wizard to a dragon, hallmarks of this genre, bring such a life to it. His artwork captures the feeling of a Dungeons and Dragons game, all the absurdity and delights that entails.

He especially excels in the visions to which our protagonist is forced to bear witness. It overwhelms with its abstraction, impossible grays and black and blues that force its way into his suffering mind. It’s a sequence of hard truths and overwhelming nihilism that Saiz brings home. It hits the way it should thanks to his wonderful work. I struggle to express in words the etherealness he is able to imbue this all with. It is weighted, dragging you through his perspective, but in a way that never ignores the genre trappings.

The lettering is the final piece that fits this altogether. VC’s Cory Petit (Indestructible Hulk, Avengers) brings a verisimilitude to their work here. Every character is afforded unique quirks that highlight their characterizations. And Petit is being asked to do such a diversity of things. He has to depict voices that vary across languages (English and Mandarin) and time periods (Modern and Picaresque). But it all feels true. I never doubt any of it.

The King In Black event has been a surprising success for most of its tie-ins. Rarely does every week have so many books worth reading. Sincerely, I can’t remember the last time this happened. But then here we have another unique, dynamic book about under-sung heroes of the Marvel Universe. It doesn’t feel like the other tie-ins. Instead of going for one single mentality, the editors have allowed the books to be more free. King In Black: Black Knight #1 is proof that that mentality leads to excellent work.

Side Note: It doesn’t really fit in anywhere above but I do want to make a note that I adore this comic brings in one of my favorite new(er) characters in Marvel canon, Aero. I love her, her design and her solo series. I hope she is a part of the upcoming Black Knight series spinning out of this. I will be shipping them from now until the return of King Arthur.

Overall: King in Black: Black Knight #1 is another successful King in Black tie-in. It’s fun, funny and furious. It makes me so excited for the upcoming Black Knight mini-series. 8.5/10

*In this situation, I am talking about Le Morte d'Arthur, my preferred rendition of these characters - closely followed by The Boy Who Would Be King.

**I cannot stress how good his run on John Constantine: Hellblazer is. He was able to fix a character that hasn’t been readable since the original volume was cancelled. It’s as good as the great runs on the character. The fact it was cancelled still upsets me.

REVIEW: King in Black - Black Knight #1

King In Black: Black Knight #1
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Jesús Saiz
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
THE BLACK KNIGHT DUELS THE KING IN BLACK!
KNULL’s ferocious assault upon earth has begun and Dane Whitman – Avenger, hero, and wielder of the mighty Ebony Blade as the BLACK KNIGHT – takes up sword and shield to defend against the unstoppable onslaught. Though the blade grants Dane incredible power so too does it consume him with a lust for violence and destruction. As the endless horde of symbiote dragons darken the skies of Shanghai, will the Black Knight overcome the growing evil within himself and join AERO and SWORD MASTER in saving the city?! And what secrets will the battle against Knull reveal about Dane’s past?
Buy It Digitally: King in Black - Black Knight #1

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My name is Jacob Cordas (@jacweasel) and I am starting to think I may in fact be qualified to write this.