Black Adam #2 – Priest, Writer; Rafa Sandoval, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Whenever Priest takes on a new property, it’s impossible to know what to expect. After all, he took Deathstroke’s usual shoot-em-up style and transformed it into a prestige family drama. Now he turns his attention to DC’s most prominent antihero of the moment, Black Adam. The Khandaq leader is currently reluctantly leading the Justice League over in Dark Crisis, so naturally, Priest’s approach to this new series is… to kill him? When we last left off, Adam had been infected with some sort of toxin by a battle with something that looked like Darkseid, and had apparently chosen a young medical student named Malik White as his new heir. Flashbacks show that some of Adam’s worst actions—including the murder of his nephew—are still in continuity, and he’s been trying to redeem himself for them for thousands of years while knowing that may ultimately be beyond his reach.
He actually plays a relatively small role in this issue, with Malik taking on a larger one as he’s essentially pulled out of his life to minister to a dying Adam and take on his power. And when Black Adam asks you to take on his power, he’s probably not taking no for an answer. Things escalate in a hurry for Malik as he’s essentially forced into becoming something he doesn’t want to be, with some great lampshading of the whole situation. This is a very good issue, but it also feels like this isn’t actually going to be a Black Adam series—and the ending indicates this may be completely out of continuity. I’m not sure how this will go over, but Priest has earned my trust many times over on DC stuff. Two issues in, the story has taken multiple left-field terms that leave it feeling completely unpredictable. That makes it a mixed bag, but also one of the most fascinating books in DC’s lineup right now.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
