An old character is made brand new for a new generation of readers in “The Black Hood” #1 from Archie’s Dark Circle Comics. Read on for our spoiler free review.
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Illustrated Michael GaydosNew Ongoing Series! “The Bullet’s Kiss,” Part 1 of 5. When Philadelphia police officer Greg Hettinger stepped into the middle of a gunfight, hot lead shredded his face-and he pulled the trigger, blind. Now Greg is waking up in a world where he’s a killer, hopelessly scarred and hooked on painkillers. What does a man do when he can no longer face the world, yet still wants to do good? He puts on a hood. Available with a regular die-cut cover by Michael Gaydos and variant covers by Francesco Francavilla, David Mack, Howard Chaykin, and David Williams.
The Black Hood is a character that dates back to 1940, making him just as old as superhero heavyweights Superman and Batman. Unlike those characters, he’s been shuffled around to different publishers and existed in too many incarnations to ever truly stick. Archie Comics, coming off their stellar 2014, revives the character in this issue under their reinvigorated Dark Circle Comics imprint and what we get is a “superhero” unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Gregory Hettinger is a police officer in Philadelphia who on a normal April afternoon responded to a radio call. He arrives on the scene and finds a hooded man fighting with four other armed men near an elementary school. In an attempt to disarm the men, and protect the school, Hettinger is shot in the face setting him on a path of self destruction that only his core belief in law and order can get him out of.
The anti-hero protagonist is a trope that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a lot of originality but Duane Swierczynski sets Hettinger apart from someone like the Punisher very quickly. Philadelphia as the setting of the story is just as much a character as Hettinger is. The city, in a sense, works against men like Hettinger who are truly attempting to do the right thing. It’s a bad place and has a way of creeping into people leaving you to either get out or be consumed by it. There a nice article at the end that hits this point home.
Hettinger is a police officer in a time where the police are being examined in a way we’ve never seen before. After the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, there’s now a fine line to walk when addressing police behavior in fiction. There’s less tolerance for violent cops, especially in cities like Philadelphia, so this is something that Swierczynski has to pay mind to. “The Black Hood” #1 does not touch on any of this and is truly a human story and that, I think, is the perfect way to approach this. It’s a very black and white scenario with Gregory facing guys who are doing something that’s not justifiable. He’s there to disarm them before something goes wrong and risks the children inside the school. That line is never approached and if anything, it’s easier to go over that line than to pull it back.
What’s important to note is that this isn’t a superhero comic in the traditional sense. There are no capes, no superpowers or tights. “The Black Hood” is a story of a man who is destroyed and needs to work his way back up. What keeps him going is his desire to bring justice to those who do wrong. He’s a protector but don’t confuse him with someone like Batman.
Michael Gaydos does a fine job her,e starting with the way he brings you into the setting. Gaydos’ version of Philadelphia is very close to real thing with the trains, dilapidated buildings and general feeling of dread growing when we get deeper into the city. The opening page is very cinematic in scope and angles. Gaydos uses fairly conventional panel layouts which adds to the retro vibe that emanates from the entire the book. “The Black Hood” feels sort of like the old Charles Bronson Death Wish movies, and the dark inking and coloring reflects that. There’s a lot of focus on Gregory and, since this is his story, it makes sense. However the rest of the character designs suffer just a little bit. Some of the smiles on other characters come off a little cartoonish and don’t quite gel with the rest of the book.
“The Black Hood” is not for everyone. This is a dark, bleak vision of vigilante justice that never once tries to make you laugh. It’s a bold new turn for Archie Comics as a publisher that invites a brand new group of fans to the company.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – “The Black Hood” #1 is a strong start to what will hopefully be the next big thing for Archie Comics.
