I have previously posted about The Black Beetle, an interesting pulp-inspired comicbook character from writer-artist Francesco Francavilla. We got a short series in Dark Horse Presents, then a mini-series, which was all reprinted in a hardback collection in 2013. We were promised a new series named Necrologue, which has yet to appear.
But we recently got a new short series with The Black Beetle in Dark Horse Presents #28-32 in 2016, which has been reprinted in hardback as well, titled Kara böcek. (which is Turkish for “black beetle”. does this give some hint that the Black Beetle is Turkish? or is it just the setting?).
This story, set in 1934, way earlier than the prior stories, takes The Black Beetle to Istanbul where he is trying to get his “ray gun,” beating out the Nazis for it. We saw the ray gun in the prior volume, but it wasn’t used. Here we learn it’s an ancient item, and the Beetle has been looking for it for some time.
What I found really interesting in the story is other elements and hints we get. While we still don’t know who the Beetle is (he gives the name of “Thomas Sawyer” at one point, a clear pseudonym), we learn some things about him. He runs into a policeman who clearly knows him in his “civilian id”, despite the fake goatee, and asks if he’s still in San Francisco. He says he’s now moved to Colt City, the setting for the other stories. The Beetle meets a contact out of costume, then in costume, and this contact is not surprised by the outfit (calling it a “work suit” and clearly knows he’s the same person). The Beetle also makes mention of having contacts in Colt City, which we hadn’t seen much of in the previous stories. So he has some kind of network of contacts similar to The Shadow and other pulp heroes.
At the end of the volume, we are again promised Necrologue. I hope we finally see it. Strangely, or sadly, the author’s Pulp Sunday and Black Beetle blogs haven’t been updated since 2013.
