Everything's looking up for Ray-he's off the hook for the murder of Hotspot, the crooked cops aiming to blackmail him have been framed and incarcerated, and he finally has enough money to afford treatment for his wife's M.S. diagnosis. So why do all of those problems pale in comparison to the "favor" that he now owes Biochem: kidnapping the world's strongest hero, Ultra?
Black Market as a whole has been a phenomenal series, but it has certainly ended on a high, with this quite possibly being Frank Barbiere's best individual issue. Having both great action, and gripping revelations the issue manages to tie up every loose end, with the emotion throughout being utterly enthralling. Due to all these reasons I highly recommend this issue, and the series as a whole. Read Full Review
Of course, that all pales in comparison to the book's dramatic conclusion that will make you stand up and slow clap in approval. While too much of a good thing can take the special out of something so grand, I feel that there is still more ground for this series to cover and hope it gets revisited at some point. Read Full Review
Anyone who likes seeing a twisted take on the superhero genre will derive a lot of pleasure out Black Market. For only being four issues it felt longer but not drug out. Just a fantastic story that was perfectly paced. Sometimes there are just too many ongoing series out there. It seems like many have forgotten the art of the limited series. It's nice to be able to just pick up some fun to read for a couple months and not have to commit years to it. Black Market is a series that might have went under a few radars that you should consider checking out. Read Full Review
All that aside, this actually is a great story that takes an interesting look at morality in a world where super heroes are feared more than praised for being what they are – heroes. One man finds a way to make them heroes, but in order to do so he must become a villain. The real question of which one he is comes down the readers opinion, and that in itself makes this book worth the read. For a writer to take a story involving something we will never see but always dream of, super heroes, and really make us question which way our moral compass points, is not something you read everyday. So Frank, though my reviews for this have not been stellar from a stand-alone issue viewpoint, as a whole, this truly is a fantastic story! Read Full Review
Part of me feels like Barberie saw this comic as his Breaking Bad with Ray easily fitting the role of Walter White, a too smart for his job guy who slowly descends into darkness (the comparisons extend further than that: Jesse=Denny, =Walter Jr x Skylar =sick wife). The biggest issue when considering this comic in light of something like BB is that unlike Walter, Ray never gained much empathy from me in the first issue. Additionally, the final few pages of exposition reveal that any empathy he had gained was entirely undeserved. Ray goes from being an unexciting schmuck to an uninteresting asshole, and that just didn't make for a good read for me. Read Full Review
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