Tag Archives: black knight

Stephanie Hans’ Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade Connecting Covers Revealed

The very legacy of the Black Knight is in peril in writer Simon Spurrier and artist Sergio Dávila’s Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade. The hot new series following cursed hero Dane Whitman is tackling the fascinating mythology behind the Black Knight in a conflict spanning mythical Camelot to modern-day NYC. To celebrate this hero’s latest epic adventure, Marvel is unveiling a stunning collection of connecting covers by acclaimed artist Stephanie Hans!

With new allies like Elsa Bloodstone and mysterious newcomer Jacks at his side, Dane is doing all he can to prevent the magical Ebony Blade from falling into his ancient foe Mordred’s hands. But Dane’s struggle for control of his destiny will force him to confront the inner darkness that fuels his powers and before the dust settles, he’ll have to face hard truths about himself, the Ebony Blade, and the entire history of the Black Knight.

Fans can now feast their eyes on all five covers as they lay out the rich history of the Black Knight mantle from Stan Lee and Joe Maneely’s original creation to the villainous days of Nathan Garrett to Dane Whitman’s time as an Avenger!

Check out all five Legend of the Black Knight covers now and an exclusive sneak peek of Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #4, on sale June 30th!

Review: Black Knight #1

Black_Knight_1_CoverWhat do you do when it’s your destiny to be damned? For centuries, that is the question that has plagued each wielder of the Ebony Blade… with all of them eventually meeting untimely ends due to the sword’s curse. And it is the question the current Black Knight, Dane Whitman, must ask himself as his addiction to the blade grows ever stronger and he finds himself in the aptly named Weirdworld. What are the circumstances that brought him to leave Earth and enter this strange and dangerous realm? And what do the Uncanny Avengers have to do with it? Find out here in this new ongoing tale of sword, sorcery and one man’s struggle to not lose his soul.

Black Knight was a series I was rather intrigued about when hearing Marvel’s All-New, All-Different plans. It’s a character who has never quite had the proper spotlight and the idea of a man addicted to his evil sword is an interesting one.

Writer Frank Tieri has taken that basic concept of an addict and thrown Black Knight into a weird that comes off as the new Savage Land, Weirdworld. The concept is really interesting and for those who enjoy fantasy comics with a superhero spin, or Marvel from the 70s, they’ll probably dig it. The comic has an old-school vibe about it in the storytelling as well as the visuals. I generally liked it, because it was so different.

The art by Luca Pizzari is ok. He depicts the fantasy world with things looking familiar, but alien at the same time. There’s also some great fusion of modern items into the fantasy world, and how it’s done, and what’s done with them, are interesting and had me looking at all of the details.

There’s a lot to like about the first issue, and for those who grew up reading Marvel comics from the 70s and 80s may appreciate the tone of the series. What Tieri does with Dane will be interesting, and how he’s started the series has me wanting to see what happens next. A “hero” as an addict is an interesting concept, and one that Tieri looks to explore more.

Story: Frank Tieri Art: Luca Pizzari
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Around the Tubes

Today’s the day, Jessica Jones hits the interwebs streaming on Netflix. Who’s watching the whole series in one sitting? Our reviews will start in a bit, but until then, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web in our morning roundup.

Around the Tubes

Comics Beat – Scrolling for Stela: New line of phone-based comics launches in 2016 – An interesting idea for digital comics.

Paste Magazine – The Interrupted Eternity: How the ’70s Argentinian Government Removed Rebel Cartoonist Héctor Germán Oesterheld – An amazing story and piece of history.

Vox – Marvel Comics’ secret weapon is a woman named Sana Amanat – If you don’t know who she is, now’s your chance to find out.

GamePolitics – YouTube Launching Stronger Fair Use Protection Measures – Nice to see, wonder how long before it’s needed.

 

Around the Tubes Reviews

Comics Beat – Batman Europa #1

Comic Vine – Black Knight #1

Talking Comics – March Book 1 & 2

CBR – Nanjing: The Burning City

CBR – Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #1

The Legend Returns – Your First Look at Black Knight #1!

Their legend echoes through history. Ancient warriors and wielders of the legendary Ebony Blade. Champions of their own destiny. But what do you do when it’s your destiny…to be damned? Marvel has released a first look at Black Knight #1 – the new ongoing series from writer Frank Tieri and artist Luca Pizzari!

All power comes with a price, as each and every Black Knight through the centuries has met and untimely end, a victim of the Ebony Blade’s curse. Will Dane Whitman’s fate be the same? The long-time Avenger’s addiction to the blade grows stronger and stronger each day. Will he succumb to its power and suffer the same end? A lost man himself, Dane now finds himself in Weirdworld, the place where all lost things go. What circumstances brought him here? And what could he possibly have done that would cause the Uncanny Avengers to mobilize against him? Find out, and see the Marvel Universe from a whole new angle this November!

BLACK KNIGHT #1 (SEP150754)
Written by FRANK TIERI
Art by LUCA PIZZARI
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
Variant Cover by ERIC POWELL (SEP150755)
Hip-Hop Variant by GYIMAH GARIBA (SEP150756)
Action Figure Variant by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER (SEP150757)
FOC – 10/19/15, On-Sale – 11/11/15

Black_Knight_1_Cover

A Legendary Avenger Returns in Black Knight #1

Their legend echoes through history. Ancient warriors and wielders of the legendary Ebony Blade. Champions of their own destiny. But what do you do when it’s your destiny…to be damned? Find out this November as the creative team of Frank Tieri and Luca Pizzari bring you Black Knight #1 – a brand-new ongoing series launching as part of All-New, All-Different Marvel!

Forged by ancient magic, long has the Ebony Blade granted its user the powers of the Black Knight, passed down through the centuries. But all power comes with a price, as each and every Black Knight has met an untimely end – a victim of the blade’s curse. Will Dane Whitman’s fate be the same? The long-time Avenger’s addiction to the blade grows stronger and stronger every day. Will he succumb to its power and suffer the same end?

A lost man himself, Dane now finds himself in Weirdworld, the place where all lost things go. What are the circumstances that brought him to this strange place, so far from the world he called home? And what could he possibly have done that would cause the Uncanny Avengers to mobilize against him, a man they called friend?

See the Marvel Universe from a whole new angle this November as Tieri and Pizzari take Dane Whitman to the depths of Weirdworld and beyond in!

BLACK KNIGHT #1
Written by FRANK TIERI
Art by LUCA PIZZARI
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
Variant Cover by ERIC POWELL
On Sale in November!

Black_Knight_1_Cover

The Marvel Cinematic Universe After Avengers: Age of Ultron – The Fantasy Characters

black knightAvengers of Ultron hits the screen today and millions of fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe get the next big step forward since last summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy.  One of the notable elements in the new film is the organic nature in which traditional Avengers are introduced to the overall story line.  The Vision and Scarlet Witch finally get introduced on the main screen, but their introduction probably fulfilled the desires of many fans.  After all many fans have tired of the superhero films which repeatedly give the origin of a new character, and the characters here were introduced without overwhelming the script with their background story.  With the confirmed addition of Captain Marvel and Black Panther to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in years to come the roster of the Avengers can be expected to keep expanding, and will probably expand once again this summer with the addition of Ant-Man and hopefully the Wasp.

tigraIn terms of the iconic character for the Avengers, there are going to be very few spots left to fill from what can be considered to be the usual roster, but there are still a few outliers that they could tie into the overall picture.  The Avengers from the 1960s contained among its other members Hercules and the Black Knight, and the 1980s saw the introduction of Tigra.  What do all of these characters have in common?  A tie to the fantasy genre.  Although more based in myth than pure fantasy, Hercules still belongs to the latter.  The Black Knight is also obviously tied into the genre, the more so that he has led the Knights of Wundagore.  Tigra is a member of the Cat People who are tied into the stories of the Higher Evolutionary as well, and thus also serve as a tie to fantasy.

The link between the three characters is tenuous enough, but Marvel is successful at making unconventional pairings work.  In Guardians of the Galaxy they introduced what was essentially a talking tree and fans loved it.  What is more interesting about the HerculesGuardians of the Galaxy was the mixing of genres, as some said it was essentially a mixture of Star Wars and super heroes.  The same could be asked equally though why Marvel could not attempt the same with other genres.  Marvel also recently released season 1 of Daredevil on Netflix, which the creator stated as saying that he wanted to make a superhero film as close as possible to the Wire, and so therefore why could not Marvel introduce a television series that was as close as they could take superheroes to Game of Thrones, especially while mixing in the three previously named characters and somehow spinning them into the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It would fit with the same Netflix concept as well, especially to introduce some characters that are not so well in pop culture, thus not taking as much of a gamble.

If there is one thing that is certain it is that movie and television fans can’t get enough of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and despite having been around for a while, the euphoria does not seem yet ready to pass.  The above could be a great way in which to incorporate harder to implement characters while also giving fans something new to see.