The past five years have changed the world irreparably.
Covid-19 has achieved many systemic failures across society, showing both malice and kindness that people didn’t know existed. In turn, they shaped how people viewed arts, culture, politics, social norms, healthcare, and more.
But perhaps the creators of Dark Honor won’t see it all with almost the same respect and gravita.
New from Image Comics, Dark Honor will be held in March 2020 during the early days of the pandemic. Here, a recently paroleed gambling addict, Lane returns home to help with 100, the “strong arm of the New York Underworld,” led by her father Joseph. As the world tackles social distancing and abundance of illness and death, Rain “must unite the last element of a declining criminal gang in one desperate attempt” against the “criminal mastermind who will take on his takeover.” Essentially, Dark Honor is Godfather is meeting the Banshee set amid a global pandemic.
Courtesy of the image comic.
And hey, that descriptor should be enough to get me on board. In particular, visually speaking, I feel that the world is appropriately intense and rough. As he proved in all the immortality of excellent murders, Fico Osio knows how to capture big, bloody behaviour with Oater’s skill. Shootout to the shootout is #1, and Oshio’s linework promotes bloody madness that shakes the pan of his brain and disarms his sensibilities. And colourist Raciel Avila is right there, adding a blend of charm and filth that really captures the uniqueness of NYC (while cultivating the edge of fear to expand the sudden abandonment and anxiety of the city).
Certainly, I have sometimes wanted a little more obvious control over the arts – making this feel like a truly smooth crime caper – but its bold vision of New York above its knees is very well aligned with the state of the hundred leading to rain return and this existential crisis. It also adds to the city’s almost haunted aesthetics of those wearing masks, those wearing abandoned street corners (I don’t feel that these editorial decisions are unnecessarily obvious).
The real problem is that the writing pushes us back just as quickly as visuals bring us to this singular historical moment. I generally like Ethan Sack’s works in books like Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. He knows how to draw a grumpy, violently prone hero/anti-hero in a truly satisfying way. However, the addition of filmmakers Brian Decobellis and KS Blues complicates the issue.
Courtesy of the image comic.
Certainly, the idea itself is stacked more than an actual Segal car, but that’s a run where things really lose. That mainly means that we get really hokey lines/references about wearing masks and social distances. (I don’t ruin these bits, so you can dramatically roll your eyes 360 degrees too.) And that whole sensibility – the 90s action flick you saw in a grainy cinemax feed – really penetrates the rest of the dark honor. It’s too many one-liners, virus stories, and even a speech from “Big Bad” Grigor, where he compares the symptoms of covid to be hit on a man. In theory, it is not overly aggressive. If I was 16 around 2001, I would have eaten this shit like a slice of Joe’s pizza.
However, I wasn’t 16 years old and I had this tragic moment just like everyone else. So, I tried to understand the reactions of people in the last six months or so, especially when it comes to musicians and manga creators making art, but I can’t get a dark honor. I absolutely believe a little humor (satisfied/spoofing) is a way to deal with even the worst trauma. However, this scar is still too fresh, and the hacky jokes and cheap female assassins don’t feel like the right response. Perhaps it is because of the general quality and excellence of the book, but even what was done with the utmost artistic and creative passion may not be enough.
There is a solid reason why many comics aren’t directly involved with Covid. Certainly, there is a virus and similar emotions and storylines being dealt with, but it was very little in terms of the narrative in which Peak Covid was placed. And it’s not just about respecting the millions who have died, but also about realizing that the world moves at a certain speed. Perhaps the comedy’s formula is “Tragedy + Time.” There certainly is enough tragedy here, but not enough time. So, we inevitably try not to distract ourselves from our own painful experiences or a world that has not reconciled exactly what Covid meant to us. (Perhaps because we jumped out of the fire into a fire similar to the size of Trump’s second administration. Who can tell?!)
Courtesy of the image comic.
In any case, all we can see is that we are blaming ourselves at this moment, so we can’t really see the value of putting such a crime story in the context of Covid. We’ve all been changed, but none of them are resolved in a way that we can satire, recontextualize, or generally re-experienced through fiction. It’s still noise in some respects and it doesn’t work for stories with a specific sheen and approach.
Ending with Dark Honor #1 is a sufficient crime story that asks many of us and doesn’t provide enough reason to be fully involved during this pivotal debut. It’s a story that tries to excite us with its cheesy cool vibe and endless bloodshed, but it’s not as self-aware as to see what’s needed more from this process. (But again, art at least has a solid foundation for narrative experiences.) In short, it’s a story with a good idea, but it’s not the luck, insight, or fortitude to actually carry out that vision.
Ultimately, it is a victim of its own poor planning and general coincidence, and it is difficult to convey the aspects that make me hold more accountable. Or if I’m too disconnected to bother me in a way that proves it’s still worth it. It’s as if I’m trying to say I’m not angry but disappointed, but I don’t know the proportion of worries, boredom or upset I’ve actually achieved.
Courtesy of the image comic.
So, the question asks: Would I read for Dark Honor #2? Perhaps because I’m a stupid guy for punishment and a gluttonous eater. I often have hope when the promised book first smashes it, but this time I’m not really sure that Dark Honor has even achieved that baseline distinction. Instead, read because I want to see how bad things can turn out to be, and if even a small sliver of extra time can really make this tragedy sing, I will continue reading. As felt during Covid itself, I have no precise hope for the future of this uneven, thoughtful, urban noir’s slightly reckless fantasy.
Now, someone please get me some bacterial soap for my sensibility.
“Dark Honor” #1 makes you angry and sick
Dark Honor #1
“Dark Honor” might think it’s hot and styled, but it generally made me feel bad with bad vibes, lack of self-awareness, and ratios from the same action film.
The art itself is turned over with grit, strength, and darkness to promote a particular sense or mood.
Dialogues try hard to land an overly cheap (in a bad way) or mediocre gags/jokes.
The book treats its subject as a gimmick and is not this complicated social phenomenon.
The entire premise of the story feels boring without the covid “skeleton” or framework.
