Broken Frontier

The Butcher still roams free, the Sons of Liberty have a spy in their midst, and the mysterious League have plans for the Colonies. Things look bad for the Black Coat!

Writer Adam Cogan obviously knows his roots as The Black Coat hearkens back to characters such as Zorro, the Cisco Kid, and even Robin Hood and the Black Arrow. He mixes the older literary traditions of adventure and pulp stories, however, with a bit of modern wittiness and complexity of plot.

British Lt. Gen. Savidge is doing wonders at convincing the people of New York that the Black Coat is behind the string of horrific killings. Meanwhile, the Black Coat himself is (grudgingly) nursing his wounds from his last fight with The Butcher. To make matters worse, all attempts to ferret out the spy from among the Knights of Liberty have failed! Something needs to be done and it is the able Ursula who decides to do it. A daring trap is laid for The Butcher but...when things go wrong, they go very wrong.

Cogan, along with artist Francesco Francavilla, have managed to create an entire world with pencils, inks and words. The reader sits down with the story and is instantly transported to this rollicking, fictional, Colonial New York. There is enough real history mixed in to anchor the tale and keep it from completely flying off into the realm of fantasy, and enough of the fantastical to keep you on the edge of your seat. The dialogue in this issue is particularly sharp, with a number of witty remarks and sly sarcasms to earn smiles and chuckles. Despite the complexity and number of players in the plot, Cogan is careful to never lose the reader.

Of course, the wonderful work of Francavilla must also be acknowledged. In addition to his perfect human figures, he also creates amazing settings and backgrounds. In reading this issue I just kept feeling like certain scenes and sequences were exactly how I had pictured some of the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. There are elements of that kind of creepy, gothic horror in this book and Francavilla does everything he can to bring it out.

The Black Coat: A Call to Arms will capture your imagination and hold it for ransom...at least until you turn the last page. With one more issue to go I am looking for a spectacular ending and I have little doubt that this creative team will provide it. Will this be the last we see of the Black Coat and his band of revolutionaries? I certainly hope not.