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A review by walkerct
Black Bolt, Vol. 1: Hard Time by Saladin Ahmed
5.0
It's been a while since I've read a superhero comic this good. Ahmed knocked it out of the park in every way.
Black Bolt is a character that I only have passing familiarity with, and he never really seemed that interesting to me. He always came off as one of those goofy Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four creations, a fun idea but without much possibility of depth. Ahmed has taken that framework and grounded it into a complex, nuanced hero. Moreover, he's taken some equally goofy villains (Metal Master and Carl Creel the "Absorbing Man") and breathed new life into them. The character interaction is what really sells this book, with the scenes between Creel and Black Bolt being especially well written. The scenes manage to do something incredibly hard, which is take the often ridiculous 50+ years of backstory and both poke fun at it and turn it into something more meaningful.
The plot of the book is tight and well-focused. There's a good ratio of dialogue to action, and the action also carries some emotional weight, rather than just be an excuse to have two people pummel one another for a couple of pages. I was worried that my unfamiliarity with the character would be a hindrance, and while I'm sure that there are a number of references that I didn't fully appreciate, in general I was fully engaged the entire time.
I wasn't sure about Christian Ward's art as first, as the characters would sometimes be captured in odd poses, but what finally won me over was his panel work. There are some crazy configurations throughout the book, particularly in issue five, and they add a great deal to the storytelling. Even better, though some of the pages are quite busy, I always felt that I understand both what was going on and where the characters were in relation to one another, which is sadly not usually the case in action heavy comics.
Anyone who is a comic book fan should pick up this book. It doesn't matter if you don't know or care who Black Bolt is. Saladin Ahmed takes this character and makes him his own. I can't wait to read the future titles in this series.
Black Bolt is a character that I only have passing familiarity with, and he never really seemed that interesting to me. He always came off as one of those goofy Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four creations, a fun idea but without much possibility of depth. Ahmed has taken that framework and grounded it into a complex, nuanced hero. Moreover, he's taken some equally goofy villains (Metal Master and Carl Creel the "Absorbing Man") and breathed new life into them. The character interaction is what really sells this book, with the scenes between Creel and Black Bolt being especially well written. The scenes manage to do something incredibly hard, which is take the often ridiculous 50+ years of backstory and both poke fun at it and turn it into something more meaningful.
The plot of the book is tight and well-focused. There's a good ratio of dialogue to action, and the action also carries some emotional weight, rather than just be an excuse to have two people pummel one another for a couple of pages. I was worried that my unfamiliarity with the character would be a hindrance, and while I'm sure that there are a number of references that I didn't fully appreciate, in general I was fully engaged the entire time.
I wasn't sure about Christian Ward's art as first, as the characters would sometimes be captured in odd poses, but what finally won me over was his panel work. There are some crazy configurations throughout the book, particularly in issue five, and they add a great deal to the storytelling. Even better, though some of the pages are quite busy, I always felt that I understand both what was going on and where the characters were in relation to one another, which is sadly not usually the case in action heavy comics.
Anyone who is a comic book fan should pick up this book. It doesn't matter if you don't know or care who Black Bolt is. Saladin Ahmed takes this character and makes him his own. I can't wait to read the future titles in this series.