The Black Beetle #2

"No Way Out" (2 of 4)
by Francesco Francavilla

The Beetle's escape from the Fort, Colt City's Alcatraz look-alike, is (admittedly) a little underwhelming, if fully in keeping with the comic's noir aesthetic.  The Black Beetle is just the kind of '30s-inspired crime fighter that keeps just the right equipment to make his unplanned escape, even if he, a little unlike his generic predecessors, self-reflectively acknowledges the topos:  "I've learned that, in my case, 'unlikely to happen' is often likely to happen" (p. 5).  And, fortuitously as it happens in comics, the thwarted plans of the Nazi Werewolf Korps to steal the Hollow Lizard have not been surrendered, and are, no doubt, linked to the Beetle's current troubles.

But if his escape from the Fort is less than inspired, his jaunt in the abandoned underground station is thrilling.  It may rely on the same convenient accidents of fortune to find the entrance, the ring, and the matchbook, but this one involves sewer rats.  Labyrinto's emergence out of the shadows is surprisingly creepy, and man-eating rats haven't been this ravenous since 1984.  And this time the escape seems appropriately improvised.  It is still a bit of a puzzle why no one in Colt City—the young, helpful boy outside the club, cops at the prison, or here Labyrinto himself—seems to know who the Black Beetle is.  He is not a recognizable crime fighter known to the city's citizens or villains.

This episode's real revelation is its conclusion, and it has nothing to do with dramatic plot twists.  Though I hadn't noticed it before, it's the Black Beetle's normal persona that is so shadowy and guarded and strangely as much of a mystery as Labyrinto's identity.  The confessional detective story lulls the reader into a sense of intimacy and familiarity with the series' protagonist, but not until the final two pages, in which his face remains obscured, his name unknown, do we realize that we really don't know this man at all.