Graphic novel review: The Black Coat - A Call to Arms

I’ve been talking about The Black Coat (Ape Entertainment) for a few days now, ever since I found it at Comic-Con, and now I’m excited to tell you guys about it and perhaps recruit a few new fans of the series.

In fact, I’ve changed my avatar for the rest of the week to help promote this. Indie labels struggle, and the more people are made aware of quality comics that they just don’t usually see, the better chance these artists have of continuing their work.

The title is what first caught my eye, and then when artist Gabriel Hardman told me what is was about, I was really intrigued.

“Ben calls it a cross between the American Revolution, James Bond and Batman.”

I’d also throw in Q, Bond’s engineer who comes up with all those fun gadgets.

But there is another icon that really completes the picture I think, and that came from Ben Lichius himself, the creator of The Black Coat and one of the main writers. He’d been working on the idea for about 10 years

“I went to Williamsburg Virginia and while I was there I saw the Mask of Zorro. I spent the whole weekend wandering around saying ‘where’s Zorro in this place, they need Zorro!’”

“He’s since become a little more than just Zorro. He’s a freedom fighter.”

There is a lot more to Nathaniel Finch, the secret identity of The Black Coat. He’s a spy, a scientist, a swordmaster, a fighter, an inventor and a patriot. He’s dubbed the country’s first superspy.

Ben did a lot of research on American history while he was carving out this character, and along the way he discovered that spies weren’t an uncommon sight in those days.

“There was quite an active group of spies working in New York City leading up to the Revolution and during it. So I started working the espionage aspects into it.”

The first graphic novel for The Black Coat collects the four initial issues of the series named A Call to Arms.

While Ben was the guy who has the first idea of an American Revolution or Colonial “Zorro”, an entire team helped shape what eventually became the first series. He met Francesco Francavilla back in 2004 and together they hashed out storyboards and concepts that eventually became The Black Coat.

Francavilla created the look and feel of the series, which Hardman used as a guide to illustrate the standalone story that we’ll talk about later.

Adam Cogan is the other writer on The Black Coat, and he co-wrote the very first issue along with Ben, and then did the next three on his own.  Both of these guys have come back together to give us the latest issue in the series.

Chris Studabaker did the lettering for all stories except for one in the standalone, which David Rothe was responsible for.

The story launches in March of 1775, with The Black Coat and his people trying to take down a pirate ship with their submarine.

Yes, a submarine. Ben assures me that there were mentions of subs even in those days, and I was a skeptic until I read this. Of course, the sub in that article is the size of a car, while The Black Coat’s looks a lot more like the ones we see in modern times.

But that’s the way things are in this world Lichius has created. There are gadgets created ahead of their time. There are also supernatural elements present in the storytelling.

The panels are drawn in black and white, something that you don’t see a lot of these days. But it’s befitting the time in which these stories take place. I also thought some of the action sequences were especially detailed and you could follow the motion of a character’s movements across multiple panels (see picture on the right for example - click for the larger version).

Everything about The Black Coat was right up my alley. I love history and especially the Revolutionary War, so following a super-hero type from back in those days is absolutely thrilling. But it’s not done in a cheesy way either. It has thoughtfulness and class.

Heck, even Benjamin Franklin shows up. And another popular spy from the American Revolution appears in the first issue of their next series called “…Or Give Me Death.”

I’ll let you figure out who.

I just love the way a fictional hero like The Black Coat is integrated with iconic characters from the real history of our country. It’s only 1775 right now in the time frame of the first five issues, but I am looking forward to seeing what happens as they grow closer to the real war.

So, have I convinced you?

The first issue of A Call to Arms is available free online, and you can go here to read it. If you enjoy that, then the complete graphic novel can be had on Amazon.

I can’t seem to find Issue #1 (#5 overall) of the “…Or GIve Me Death” series anywhere online, but you can see a preview of it here. I suggest of course you wait until you’ve read the trade above.

If you want more to read, there is also a standalone, 52-page issue they did with two original stories that have no bearing on the original five issues. This is another release that seems to not be easy to purchase online. It may have to be ordered directly from Ape Entertainment. I have a copy of it, but didn’t get a chance to read it before this review.

As far as Issue #2 (#6 overall), there hasn’t been a release date announced yet, although their forums indicate it’s been delayed.

This was a swashbuckling, intelligent and action-packed period piece story. It totally captures the time in which our country was being born along with the addition of America’s first superhero/superspy who fought the British and whatever other evil might be coming his way.

Brilliant work.

Mike’s Rating: 9 Black Coats out of 10