The Black Beetle #4

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

Francavilla concludes his first complete Black Beetle mini-series with a supremely stylish, if not particularly surprising, verve. The two-page title spread, for instance, a delightful birds-eye map-scape (with the humorously identified "ME" car rumbling over the bridge) which bleeds ambiguously into a portrait of the Fierro family estate Camp Creek, sets the tone for the Beetle's final showdown, his final "reveal".  It's a puzzle, quite literally in Francavilla's design, which explains step by step the Black Beetle's logic, a series of proverbial bread crumbs.  Part mystery, part adventure, all pulp candy.

The primary mysteries of "No Way Out"—i.e., the circumstances of the fire at Spencer's and the identity of the masked Labyrinto—are wrapped up tidily, perhaps too tidily.  They fit tonally with the Shadow-esque pulp storytelling, which Francavilla cultivated throughout, but they don't do much to complicate it.  Consequently, its plot is strong, but not all that innovative.  If anything, its one small surprise is that it doesn't grant its villain Labyrinto his parting words from the fire.  He may say them, or something, but neither our hero nor we ourselves will hear them.  That is, assuming he's actually dead, a condition The Black Beetle has been very liberal about undoing.  In true pulp tradition, the Beetle may not have yet heard the last of Jimmy Galazzo...again.

It may lack a little in plot creativity, but "No Way Out" does, however, situate the immediate story in a vintage-flavored context that makes it seem more like the opening chapter of a larger story than the main event.  The series' frequent interludes and it's earlier Dark Horse Presents story sprinkle plenty of potential conflict for the Black Beetle to solve in the future.