The Black Bat #2
Written by Brian Buccellato
Art by Ronan Cliquet
Colored by Mat Lopes
Lettered by Rob Steen
Covers by Marcos Martin, Billy Tan, Jae Lee, Ardian Syaf and Joe Benitez
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 5, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Reading The Black Bat #2 will further cement what we now know as FACT. Dynamite Entertainment loves its pulp heroes and takes extra good care of them. I’m not sure just who it is, I’m guessing senior editor Joe Rybandt, but someone at DE goes the extra mile to see that all these books are treated with the utmost care and that they all have a genuinely sincere creative team working together to ensure that the best versions of these characters are hitting the stands.

Writer Brian Buccellato, best known for his work on DC Comics The Flash, takes what could’ve easily been a Batman rip-off and does something that’s not even remotely related to one of “those types of stories.” In fact, he goes out of his way to make the character unique and independent and stand out on his own. And we’re rewarded for all his hard work by having a great comic!!!

The Black Bat #1
Written by Brian Buccellato
Illustrated by Ronan Cliquet
Colored by Matt Lopes
Lettered by Rob Steen
Covers by J. Scott Campbell, Joe Benitez, Ardian Syaf, Billy Martin and Marcos Martin
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 1, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The Black Bat #1 is Dynamite’s latest offering into the awesome selection of pulp comics they’ve been putting out recently. Of all the heroes that are in their stable, The Black Bat is the least recognized. BY FAR. Will it matter?

Writer Brian Buccellato, who’s been killing it over at DC on The Flash, brings us the story of The Black Bat. Now, I have to admit, I knew nothing about this character and a quick Wikepedia search didn’t really help much either. So, I went in not knowing what to expect. And, as is most oftentimes the case with the Dynamite pulp line, I was VERY pleasantly surprised. Buccellato introduced me to a character I’d never heard of and made him seem like an old friend that I was visiting again. This is just a very well written comic from start to finish. Buccellato gives us just enough of the origin of The Black Bat to satisfy, and at the same time, leave us wanting more. For once, I’m glad to see that they first issue of a series is NOT the origin story, that’s told through some cleverly places flashbacks, but just an all-out, great crime solving, thug-beating story. Very impressive.