Dark Blood # 1
Boom Studios
Written by: Latoya Morgan
Illustrated by: Walt Barna
Colored by: A.H.G.
Imagine living with the knowledge: that those you live with seeing you as tainted, that feeling that nothing about you is of value, that you are unworthy despite your efforts to help those around you, knowing that you are willing to sacrifice anything and everything to make this world better. Latoya Morgan and Boom! Studios don’t reveal much in the first issue of Dark Blood. But from what I’ve read so far this comic is about a substance, a material that is more than skin deep.
The first panel begins with a glimpse outside of Hardy’s Eats…a diner in Alabama… in 1955. Seeing a mid 20’s black male leaving the establishment at night I was already prepared for what could, what would happen next. To paraphrase Jeffrey Price’s words to Agent J in Men in Black 3, “that wasn’t the best time for your people, just saying”. Walking home down the dark streets Double A, Avery Aldridge, is stopped and accosted by an unhappy white customer. Despite his claims Mr. Case’s complaint clearly have nothing to do with the service he received while dining.
Walt Barna’s art displays flashbacks of Avery as a pilot during World War II.
History paints this period as one that saw black servicemen fight beside other races and countries against a common threat. Once the war was concluded these heroes returned home to the United States only to be viewed as lessers.
Men like Double A had returned home to face the same threat they fought to stop abroad. That threat, that enemy being BIGOTRY and RACISM.
Dark Blood issue # 1 splits its time showing us Avery attempting to survive after his navigation system fails and his plane suffers damage during the war and 10 years later, in 1955. Something happened between the day he parachutes to safety behind enemy lines and the day Mr. Cross attempts to take his life. An event called the “variance” changed Avery and gives him power. Whether this variance is ultimately for his betterment is not yet known, although he clearly is no longer powerless against those who would oppress him.
Out you DAMN spot.