Something big happens in this issue… I mean sure, we get a new villain that is introduced at the end that has been pulling some strings previously, and we get a very fine wrap up on this story arc in the form of a good old-fashioned western showdown (Cue the western music). All that was awesome, but I am talking about something entirely different that happens in this issue that makes it special. What is it you ask….
This is the issue where Captain Midnight becomes a full-fledged and bona fide hero. It happens here and it is pretty dang awesome.
Now for the previous issues, Jim Albright (aka. Captain Midnight) has been kicking a whole lot of ass, standing strong, doing in bad guys, and using his most powerful weapon, his brain, to really take it to the evils of the world. But through all of that, you could never quite call Captain Midnight a hero. He was trying to deal with the reality that his bold vision of the future and many of his advancements in technology were being used to do wrong. He likewise was trying to get an understanding that good and evil aren’t as easily defined as they used to be during the World War II era. Bad guys nowadays don’t always wear uniforms… They wear suits and some of them might just be close friends with whom you have confided.
Things have been tough for Captain Midnight and he was just about to crack, but an event occurred that changed things. That event was that the residents of a small town near his workshop were taken hostage and offered up to be killed if he didn’t turn himself in… A real painful reality that requires Captain Midnight to act, or let innocents be killed simply because he didn’t give in to those bad guys who wish to do him harm.
Captain Midnight becomes a hero within the pages of this issue straight up, as he works to save the residents even though he is captured.. And watching Joshua Williamson get from point A to point B is super fun and entertaining. Williamson is excellent in taking a character and really getting into their heads. Many of his other comics delve into a darkness that fuels people and makes them who they are whether good or bad. For these last several issues of Captain Midnight, Williamson has done the same thing as he normally does. But it is through that darkness, that allows Captain Midnight to become the hero that he is meant to be.
Since the last few issues and after a major character demise, we are beginning to see an edgier Captain Midnight that is beginning to understand this brave new world that he never quite accepted as of yet. It is safe to say that he embraces it in this issue. Heck, he even asks a lady out on a date (Spoiler Alert! He gets shot down, kind of).
No, this new Captain Midnight has risen from the ashes of his betrayal and pain and is looking to become the super hero that he is meant to be in the Project Black Sky universe.
Everything in this issue is perfect… From Williamson’s rapid fire verbal exchanges to Manuel Garcia’s kicking art of action. It all rocks. I confess that I loved the western showdown scene. And that was just halfway through the book. Whole bunches of stuff happens and I am looking very forward to the next chapter of this awesome tale of a classic comics Golden Age character who has been given new life through the exceptional talents of Williamson and Garcia.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Joshua Williamson Artist: Manuel Garcia Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 9/24/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital