Shawn Gabborin doesn’t reveal much in the newest story arc for Black Betty. Black Betty #5 tells the story of a sweet deaf boy named Noah who gets Betty’s contact info from his dead grandpas’ hand. Noah shoots Betty a text so that sends her on a road trip to Edgeclif, South Dakota to find and fight some monsters. There’s something sinister going on in this town and poor l’il Noah only trusts Betty because his grandpa trusted her enough to be his final call. Gabborin paints the picture of a charming small town with a dark secret so perfectly that even though it’s a classic Body Snatcher story, you find yourself invested.

If the story wasn’t enough to pull you in, Rafael Dantas artwork is chock full of classic tattoo art style that suits Betty and the story well. Dantas makes a clear distraction, style wise, about how much tamer and “normal” the citizens and the town will look versus how Betty appears. Even though Betty is dressed in classic rockabilly style , the 1950s-sequel town she is stuck in for this story arc comes off as a separate character distinct from her, Dantas makes sure that Betty doesn’t look like she fit in.

There’s something to be said about Gabborin’s choice of co-protagonist in the deaf Noah, he’s a town crier trying to bring light to a horrible situation but, just like Noah can’t hear , no one seems to be able to hear him. Noah uses a cell phone to communicate through text and while in most cases his disability would be seen as a downside, there’s something powerful in the reveal that his disability is the thing keeping him alive. This puts Noah in the position of watching the monsters convert, devour and kill at will driving him slowly mad which is horrible for the kid but, great for the story.

This latest story arc seem like it’s going to be an awful lot of fun and I can’t wait to find out how the story ends. I’m looking forward to having my most burning questions answered like, will Betty be saved from the horde? Will Noah outwit the monsters? Why are small towns always so creepy? And, who does laundry on Saturday?

Story: Shawn Gabborin Art: Rafael Dantas
Story: 8.8 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Action Lab provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review