Black: Vol. 1

Set up to deliver an activist twist on a familiar formula, this contemporary superhero saga begins when white police officers gun down a group of young black teens in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, taking them for the culprits of a robbery. “They patrol the places, but don’t know the faces,” a black detective narrates. Kareem Jenkins, a member of the group who’s shot and almost killed, wakes up in an ambulance as his body is transported from the scene. Escaping, he encounters the leader of the Project, a clandestine global organization where he learns that, throughout history, only black people manifest superpowers, the fear of which has been the root cause of societal oppression for centuries. Opposing the Project is the Mann Company, whose aim is to determine the genetic key granting these special abilities and provide it to white people in order to uphold white supremacy. Most of the story elements found in this conceit of a supernatural “genetic strain” have been codified for decades by Marvel Comics’ X-Men, in which mutants symbolize oppressed minorities. Though topical, the more direct social commentary in this story also gets ham-fisted, with the “Project” fighting “the Mann” (get it). The black-and-white art is standard fare for the genre, though the chapter openers rendered in red, black, and white silhouettes are striking. This first trade volume collects an ongoing series, which was launched with the support of a well-funded Kickstarter campaign in 2016. Given time to mature, hopefully future issues will deliver a more innovative story line to match the series’ laudable aims. [em](Jan.) [/em]