Black Hood: Season 2 #5 Review

Black Hood: Season 2 #5
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Greg Scott
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Rachel Deering
Publisher: Archie Comics

A review by Josh Rose

This is the second time I have read a book from Archie Comics’ Dark Circle imprint. I feel bad for not reading more from Dark Circle because their books are mature, gritty and all-around good as first impressions go. In Black Hood: Season 2 #5 we see two vigilantes that have gone by the name the Black Hood, Kip Burland and Greg Hettinger, joining together (after kicking the crap out of each other) to take down the assassin The Nobody. Unfortunately, the Nobody has kidnapped Greg’s friend Jessie Dupree and time is running out.

The way that Duane Swierczynski builds suspense and ups the stakes in Black Hood: Season 2 #5 is almost cinematic. For being a dark and gritty story, there are moments of comic relief to lighten up the mood. Swierczynski has a good grasp on the character of Nobody, a sadistic man who wants to completely destroy the Black Hood, but I found both Kip and Greg to be very similar characters, stubborn and constantly butting heads. Some of the dialogue felt forced and didn’t feel natural to the characters.

Being new to the Black Hood there were a few times where it was hard for me to tell the difference between the two Black Hoods when their hoods were on and I was confused as to which Hood was which. The two characters communicated via radio and they had different text bubble colors near their respective persons to distinguish from one another, but it still requires one to pay some close attention.

Greg Scott does an amazing job creating these intense visuals. His style along with Kelly Fitzpartick’s colors really lend to the gritty and dark tone of Black Hood: Season 2 #5. Fitzpatrick’s colors are extremely well done. They draw your eyes where they need to go, help illustrate the action and are key indicators for some movements by the characters. Scott’s pencils and inks are full of simple shapes and lines, but together they create an incredibly detailed and beautiful book of art. Unfortunately in the fight scene with Nobody I found it difficult to follow the movement of the fight. Confusing having 3 guys, two guys wearing the same clothes, fighting each other. I felt like Scott drew more panels for the fight scene and some of them were cut out leaving key fight poses missing in the final cut.

Verdict:
Buy It! I have regrets about not reading Black Hood sooner. It’s not perfect, but its a pretty great, gritty crime series and I need to go read some old issues. Please go buy Black Hood: Season 2 #5, and pick up the rest of this arc while you’re at it.