Looking at the recent Blackhawks series from DC Comics

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I intended to go back and pick up the first four issues of the Blackhawks series published by DC Comics as part of their New 52 re-launch.  I found copies of those comics, and the final issue of the series, #8, came out last week.  So I’ve been able to take a look at the short-lived series as a whole, and put together a few thoughts.

Writer Mike Costa obviously put a great deal of thought and planning into this series.  It appears that he had developed personalities and back stories for the cast which he intended to elaborate upon over time.  Unfortunately, the sudden cancelation of Blackhawks put an end to those plans.  That’s really regrettable.  I would have enjoyed learning more about the team, especially Andrew Lincoln and the new Lady Blackhawk, who Costa never really had the chance to examine, leaving both of them enigmas.

Costa also utilized some cutting-edge scientific theory in the series.  He seems to have done some serious research into technology and hardware, giving the book a very authentic-sounding feel.  Nanocites, microscopic machines that could enter the body and manipulate it, jump-starting evolution at an ordered, lightning progression, are a key element to his eight issue arc.

The area where Blackhawks falls short is in the artwork department.  The first four issues feature pencil layouts by Graham Nolan, and he does a very good job with these.  However, each of these issues has a different inker / finisher.  The result is a very inconsistent look to the artwork on the first four issues.  Really, it would have been better to let Nolan do full pencils and then pair him with a talented inker such as Scott Hanna.  The two of them worked very well together on Detective Comics back during the “Knightfall” storylines.  Reuniting them on Blackhawks could have given the series some high-quality art.

It’s a bit of a pity that Ken Lashley, who drew some nice covers for issue #s 1-7, wasn’t able to do more interior work.  He provided the finishes for the first issue, and the results were quite good.

This situation with the artwork greatly improved with issue #5, when CAFU and Bit came onboard as the new regular art team.  In addition to finally giving Blackhawks some much-needed consistency in the art department, their work was extremely well done.  CAFU had very good storytelling to his work, and he gave the characters real emotional qualities.  The inking by Bit was especially polished.  I wonder if, had they been the art team starting with the very first issue, sales would have been better and the series might not have been canceled.

Then again, as I mentioned in my previous post, I feel that Blackhawks got lost in the shuffle of the gigantic New 52 release.  DC debuted eight different Batman-related series last autumn.  I really don’t know if it was necessary to have that many.  This fixation with the number 52 on DC’s part really led to a glut of new titles, and most readers probably paid much more attention to the numerous titles tying in with Batman, Superman, and Justice League.  If there hadn’t been so many of those, other titles such as Blackhawks might have stood out more.  I mean, the only reason I ended up reading Blackhawks is because CAFU and Bit did that signing at Midtown Comics.  If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have given the series a try, and I would have had no idea that I had missed out on a really great read.

This touches upon a huge criticism I have of DC as well as Marvel.  Both companies will promote to death titles like Justice League by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee, or all those Batman books, which are guaranteed to be big hits in any case.  But they will give little exposure to a series like Blackhawks, leaving it to sink or swim on its own.

Thinking about this, I have no idea if there are any other New 52 titles that I have not given a chance which might actually be enjoyable.  But I simply do not have the time or, more importantly, the money, to try all of them.  So, yeah, I have to rely on word of mouth from reviewers or, in this case, a signing at a comic book store, to catch my attention.

Okay, end of that rant… for now.  I know I will be returning to in a future post, when I write about what comic book series I am currently reading.  In the meantime, getting back to Blackhawks, it was an exciting title with intelligent writing by Mike Costa, plus some superb art from CAFU & Bit on the second half.  If you have not read it, I recommend tracking down those eight issues.  They’re a fun read.

Blackhawks Down(town) at Midtown Comics

Yesterday evening I went to the Midtown Comics located on Fulton Street (which would technically make it “Downtown Comics,” I guess) for the latest of their comic book creator signing events.  Midtown was having two artists from Madrid, Spain at the store to autograph copies of the latest issue of Blackhawks, one of the “New 52” titles from from DC Comics.  CAFU (short for Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano) and Bit became the art team on Blackhawks with issue #5.

To be honest, previously I had not been following Blackhawks, or really most any of the other New 52 series from DC.  The only two I’ve been reading month after month beginning with the first issue were Wonder Woman and Justice League International.  And even there, I’ve been seeing how each series has been from one issue to the next, sort of half-committed.  So Blackhawks definitely fell under the radar along with the rest of the New 52.  But when I heard that CAFU and Bit would be in town to sign issue #7, I picked up the previous two issues, which they also illustrated.

The event at Midtown was, in a certain respect, a bit of a disappointment.  The store had promoted it by announcing that each person who purchased a copy of Blackhawks #7 would be able to get a free sketch from both CAFU and Bit.  Unfortunately, the artists were only able to sign and sketch for one hour, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, and they turned out to be drawing more slowly than the store probably thought they would be.  I think only the first six or seven people in line got a sketch.  I was not one of them.

Truth be told, I did not especially mind.  Yes, it was disappointing, but I shrugged it off because I was able to meet a couple of talented artists who only visit the States maybe once or twice a year.  I got several books autographed, including two issues of Marvel Adventures: Avengers that CAFU penciled in 2007.

Listening to some of the other people on line, though, I was amused at how big a deal it seemed to them.  Some people were of the attitude that they wasted their money (three whole dollars) and weren’t getting anything in return, that the book was no good, that Midtown was just doing this to drum up some sales on a title which is scheduled to be canceled in another month.  I think the lesson here is that if you are going to a comic book store signing, it should be for book that you are potentially interested in, or by a creator whose work you like.  That way, if you do not end up with a sketch, at least you will have still gotten an autographed book that will mean something to you.

I want to add that this is the first time I remember anything like this ever happening at Midtown Comics.  In the past, if they have promoted a signing to include sketches from artists, I don’t recall anyone walking away empty-handed.  So I just view this as a one-time occurrence.

Of course, maybe I am feeling charitable because at last year’s Spanish Inq signing event, when Bit was in NYC with Pere Perez, he drew a very nice sketch of Wonder Woman for me.  So I already had something by him in my sketchbook.

In any case, what do I actually think of the Blackhawks series?  CAFU and Bit’s artwork is stunning.  But, more to the point, I am impressed by Mike Costa’s writing.  It is not especially groundbreaking or revolutionary, but there is a fun and intelligence to it.  I like the idea of an international “black ops” type group of normal humans tasked with facing down technological menaces within the DC universe.  Judging solely by the three issues I have read, I feel the concept by Costa is sound and full of a great deal of potential, but perhaps the execution is lacking.  There is also an absence of details explaining who these characters are, and what exactly had taken place within the first story arc, which did not make them “new reader friendly.”  Having said that, I am intrigued enough that I am currently searching for copies of those initial four issues, to see what happened in them.

Blackhawks is being canceled with issue #8.  This is something of a pity.  As I said before, the concept holds much promise.  I like the characters, and if they survive the finale of the series it would be cool to see them resurface in some of DC’s other titles.  The art team of CAFU and Bit is really outstanding, and I look forward to seeing them receive another series to illustrate, hopefully soon.