Written By: Si Spurrier, Sergio Dávila
Art By: Sean Parsons
Colors By: Arif Prianto
Letters By: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Art By: Iban Coello, Jesus Aburtov
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 17, 2021

In Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #1, Dane Whitman is struggling. His superpower is the strength of the Ebony Blade, but it only works when he let’s loose feelings of pain, anger, and darkness. How can he be a hero, liked and respected, when to be a hero requires that he be a hateful miserable bugger?

Was It Good?

Shockingly, yes. The Black Knight has had wildly inconsistent quality in Marvel Comics, but this issue was more entertaining than it had any right to be. The art is excellent from Parson and everyone involved, and Spurrier/Dávila’s story is smart and witty with just enough menace from the main villain to keep the drama up.

What’s It About?

We start off with Dane Whitman trying to get some self-help counseling from an AI app, hoping the algorithm will coax a little guidance into his life. The problem? The Avengers don’t respect him or like him very much, especially Thor, and it hurts his sense of self-worth.

Dane knows the Avengers only call him when they need the power of the Ebony Blade, and that makes him feel like the intrusive spouse that only get invited to parties because out of courtesy to their partner. During his one-way therapy session, Dane gets the call from the Avengers to battle respawning scab monsters in Central Park. He gets there thinking they want him to help because they value him as a teammate, but really they just want him to do the big bang with the sword. The Avengers need his sword, he’s just along for the ride and he knows it.

Meanwhile, a professor (“just call me Jacks”) shows up by invitation to Dane’s castle to talk about Arthurian legend theories. While she waits, she notices his quarters are a mess and she she admits to Dane’s goat-headed butler she thinks most of the Arthurian legends are poppycock.

Back in Central Park, Thor gets annoyed with Dane’s Thee’s and Thou’s act, Captain America wants him to stop fighting hand-to-hand and do the big boom, and it’s clear nobody wants to hang out afterwards. Dane does the bog boom, and all’s well…

Until a hooded figure suddenly appears whispering a spell or curse into everyone’s ear, which drives them into heartbreaking torment. Dane resists the spell because he’s already tortured, so the hooded figure cuts off Dane’s head to steal the sword.

Dane’s horse bring his body, still gripping the Ebony Blade, back to his home castle where he’s laid in repose. Jacks is told her meeting is cancelled but she insists on seeing him. Without spoiling the ending, Jacks is beset by visions, Merlin is amused with the concept of a “New” York, and Dane has questions.

Final Thoughts:

Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #1does an excellent job of portraying a conflicted, sometimes tortured, and insecure hero that walks the line between light and dark. Sharp, witty, and amusing, this story is worth picking up.

8.5/10

This issue was picked by the badasses of the Get Fresh Crew (whoop whoop) for our Patreon Only Spotlight Podcast. If you want to listen to that and a ton of other shows, go to Patreon.com/weirdscience