He’s a powder keg of black fury that’s about to explode! The baddest kung-fu cat to ever appear on screen is coming to comics so you suckers better duck!  Former CIA agent, international ladies man, and sworn ass-kicking enemy of The Man… he’s Black Dynamite—and he’s about to walk into the most dangerous journey of his life!

Black Dynamite #1 takes the spoof action/comedy blaxploitation cult character and brings him to the comic pages courtesy of IDW Publishing. The kung-fu fighting former CIA agent Black Dynamite must deal with the reality he might not be the best thing there is for his neighborhood, leading him to a strange journey.

I’m a huge fan of 70s exploitation and especially blaxploitation films. There’s something about them that’s fun, entertaining, action packed, and a solid commentary on society. They’re also usually highly offensive. The first issue hits all of those perfectly having me laughing and cringing at the same time. This feels like the movie, character and genre laid out on comic pages.

The first issue is mostly set-up, so its difficult to say exactly how the overall story is, but the events leading up to Black Dynamite hitting the road, and what’s said by various folks is just amazing, with dialogue I’ll have to use in real life at some point (and probably either be slapped or looked at funny).

The blaxploitation genre has a long history of being spoofed, and Black Dynamite keeps up that tradition. There’s a fine line between spoofing and mocking something and the first issue perfectly walks it.

Brian Ash‘s awesome writing is backed up Ron Wimberly and Sal Buscema‘s fantastic art with a retro feel to it all that would fit in perfectly with actual comics from the 70s.

This was just a fun comic for me and anyone who either dug the movie this comic is based on, or that type of genre in general should absolutely pick this up.

Story: Brian Ash Art: Ron Wimberly, Sal Buscema
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review