Blackmark

I first read Gil Kane's BLACKMARK in the early 1970s, when I was in my early teens, and even then I was blown away by its innovative style. Kane is one of the masters of the comic book medium, but with BLACKMARK he created what was essentially the first "graphic novel", intended for more mature, sophisticated readers. There have been hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of graphic novels since, and some of more recent vintage look more polished and smooth. Certainly BLACKMARK, like any "first" shows its age in places, but it is still powerful stuff. Kane draws on all sorts of Arthurian and German/Norse mythology, and his arena looks decidedly Roman, but it is all a metaphor with the graphic impact of Tolkein. It is also quite violent, often sexy, and even fun.It is unfortunate that Kane's BLACKMARK experiment failed to attract the commercial attention it deserved. Poor sales due to slipshod distribution and the inability of retailers to comprehend what was being attempted, brought Kane's BLACKMARK up a bit short. Still, it was a pioneering effort, well ahead of its time, and it opened many doors to the future...

One of the best, at his best, not constrained by the baggage that comes with corporate icons, or fanboy continuity.A true graphic "novel." Gil Kane is one of the greatest story-tellers to ever put pencil to bristol board, truly a must have for anyone who appreciates the medium.

The first thing to note is that this is not just a glorified kid's comic. In fact it was not created with kids in mind at all but adults who wanted to grow out of comics or adults who never cared for comics. It was a sad day when Gil Kane passed away two years ago. Besides the original Blackmark novel that was released in 1971 his career never amounted to his own expectations. Even "His Name is Savage" was a disappointment due to low distribution. Gil did not want to be known simply as a good comic artist and sequential storyteller. Well, at long last, both of the only Blackmark stories written and drawn have been collected into one trade paperback volume for the first time in the story's history. In the magazine reprints these stories were cut up to add more volume to the pages and bring down the page count. There were also mediocre bits of fill-in art provided by Gil in an attempt to hold the sequences together. Now this wonderful science fantasy graphic novel has been collected to show just how far Gil Kane was ahead of his time. The story and illustrations work seamlessly to tell the epic tale of one man's rise to power, and the challenges he faces trying to unite a world now torn apart by a cataclysmic war and the following, ruthless, feudalism maintained by selfish lords and wandering bands of warriors who maintain a stranglehold on the surviving population. This is a powerful story by Gil Kane who provides the art and the story concept which was scripted by the late and incredibly talented Archie Goodwin. Archie was the early editor of Warren publications, Marvel's Epic line editor, and finally DC's Batman writer/editor. Together (though Archie was brought in pretty late) these two men made a sincere effort to elevate the comic format beyond it monthly serial, soap opera continuity as well as bringing the graphic elements up to be compared with best of the golden age of magazine illustration. Sadly, this effort, released in 1971, while not entirely overlooked, was ignored by many due to the lack of promotion within the industry and outside of mainstream comics. The first half of this current book was released as a standard format paperback. It was an odd duck with no real place on the book rack or the book store and wasn't easily catagorized. Like most things wonderfully unique, the people responsible for getting the news out just didn't get it. Now the old book is a collectable. This collection, the very first real graphic novel, is back in the book market. It is a beautiful hybrid of graphics and prose. The story is a mix of various legends from the immaculate conception to the Arthurian myths all bound together in a world forced to reverting to desperate survial. The characters are human, not superheroic. The setting is exotic and dangerous. The world is looking for an opportuity and Blackmark may be it's last. Gil Kane's angular, lean and powerful art is perfectly suited to this story. Please, don't miss this opportunity to enjoy a gor