Who is Black Manta when separated from his archenemy and going out on his own journey? Find the start of an answer to such a question in the debut of his eponymous limited series!
Written by Chuck BrownCover by Valentine De Landro
Illustrated by Valentine De Landro
Colored by Marissa Louise
Lettered by Clayton CowlesFollowing his appearance in the Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular, the scourge of the seas now gets his own series. Black Manta is chasing a rare metal with incredible powers, and he’s not the only one who wants to get his hands on it, friend and foe alike! Torrid is a former ally who has escaped hell (literally!) to answer the call of the metal, but can Manta trust her? Hopefully so because he might need her help to fend off Devil Ray, a new competitor for the role of the biggest villain underwater.
Both Aquaman: The Becoming #1 and Black Manta #1 feature a connecting variant cover by superstar artist Francis Manapul!
INTRODUCING NEW HERO TORRID AND VILLAIN DEVIL RAY!
Running a villain-centric series can be tricky, even for a limited series. How does a writer expand upon an existing villain without making them seem too sympathetic, but still making them seem worth following? How can a character be both intriguing to watch and abhorrent to actually emulate? For a character as obsessed with his associated hero as David Hyde, better known as his supervillain and pirate identity of Black Manta (to which we will hereafter refer to him as much like the comics themselves as a whole), such a task can be all the more difficult. How exactly does Chuck Brown, relatively new to DC Comics characters, handle such a subject?
As it so happens, Brown does fairly well with “Black Manta” #1, beginning the pirate’s eponymous limited series in a way that is at once interesting for returning readers and inviting for others. Generally speaking, Black Manta is seen as one of the more revenge-driven of Aquaman’s rogues gallery. However, the story of his limited series seems to pull that back, with Brown allowing him to have a life and goals outside of his attempts against Arthur Curry and the Aquaman family as a whole. There is mention of a member of his own family, but while said person seems to be important to him, the identity of Hyde’s son is largely unimportant to any but preexisting Aquaman fans. Instead, Black Manta’s quest is more along the lines of a professional job, and while he deals with other pirates such as Captain Demo and other agents like his newfound associate in seeking the use of a new artifact. In fact, his first act shown is somewhat anti-heroic rather than villainous, fighting the aforementioned Demo and his crew and incidentally saving hostages, rather than just annihilating everything in his path in the name of attacking his nemesis or those close to him. This more professional approach may seem odd for Black Manta, but it works well toward getting new readers on board with him and introducing them to the character swiftly and effectively, while boiling him down to his bare essence as a modern pirate who is ruthless but not unintelligent, worth following a story for without idolizing his methods.
The introduction of other characters also helps Brown to make this debut interesting. Devil Ray, a new villain here identified only as “Blue,” takes elements of heroes even beyond the Aquaman family mythos, seeming to be not just a rehash of many pirates, but something very new, pulling the Atlantean’s story closer to others in the DC Universe by proxy. What exactly is this new antagonist’s story? Time will tell, but Brown does not give much to work with for this introduction, focusing more on the eponymous character of “Black Manta” #1 than introducing a side one, and with good reason. However, as with other new character Torrid, Devil Ray needs some more page time to truly care about him beyond what he can do, with the bare essence of a brief introduction not being enough for too much in the way of addressing what makes them different from the whole.
Continued belowValentine De Landro has a bibliography that includes a lot of books involving Superman, primarily (but not exclusively) in backup stories, but not much around Aquaman, let alone a series focused on one of the Atlantean’s arch enemies. However, his illustrations work very well toward the gritty style of a villain’s criminal adventures, allowing him, in some ways, to fit seamlessly into the world of land and sea. Every strike is brutal and bloody, every encounter wracked with tension as the amphibious journey progresses. Aided by Marissa Louise once again (more on her colors below), he showcases the darker sides of the surface world’s conflicts with Atlantis by utilizing heavier shadows, making Black Manta almost appear to be something other than human.
The main problem with De Landro’s artwork seems to be in regards to facial expressions. A single scene that probably is meant to convey agony instead seems to indicate laughing or annoyance alongside the pain depending on who is being viewed, leaving powers shown across a vast distance a bit difficult to take seriously. At the same time, other instances are uncannily effective, making new characters seem terrifying to behold before they do anything at all just from their expression alone.
Marissa Louise does a very good job at the dark, borderline dirty colors of “Black Manta” #1, a far cry from what some would call at times quasi-pristine superheroes or beautifully colored outfits. As mentioned before, Louise has had experience working alongside Valentine De Landro, with their collaborations including the backup stories ‘The Metropolis Menagerie’ and ‘Time and Effect’ in “Future State: Superman of Metropolis” and “Future State: Superman: Worlds at War” respectively. As such, she knows how to work with his illustrations well to enhance the feelings brought forth by one panel or another, her talent supplemented by direct, relatively recent experience.
There is not much in the way of magic, but Louise manages to make what mysticism there is in “Black Manta” #1 seem far more otherworldly than anything else shown, having had experience with coloring magic from the likes of “Amethyst” and “Hex Wives .” The overall impression is not too jarring, fitting the style of the rest of the piece without detracting from the fact that it is, in fact, magic at work.
Final Verdict: 7.0– Interesting for incoming readers, but perhaps a bit odd on artwork at times, “Black Manta” #1 is worth checking out.
