Within the first 10 pages of "Black Dynamite: Slave Island," the comic book follow-up to the 2009 film "Black Dynamite," Black Dynamite kills a great white shark by stabbing it with its own fin. "He wasn't the first great white motherf----- I had to take out with my bare hands," Dynamite remarks. "Hell, he wasn't even the second."
In most comic books this would be a metaphor for white people, but in the world of Black Dynamite ("The Greatest Black Hero of Them All!"), there's a good chance that he actually means sharks.
"Black Dynamite" pays homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. The movie was pitch-perfect, starring Michael Jai White as the titular Dynamite, a kung-fu-fighting, former C.I.A. agent out to avenge his brother's death and clean up the streets. "He's a mean motherf----- and he's super bad," his theme song states — reprinted in the comic book to remind us who we're dealing with. And, if it's possible, he's even badder as a comic book hero.
The film was a modest success, but the fan base was hungry for more and the film's creators were happy to oblige. "Slave Island," written by "The Boondocks'" Brian Ash, is likely the closet thing we'll get to a sequel any time soon.
The book is drawn to look like the comic books of the '70s. It's not flashy or bold or bright, a far cry from the styles that are popular in comics today. The colors are washed out, and the inking is perfectly imperfect. If readers didn't know any better, it would be easy to mistake the book as the product of another time.
The writers clearly love their character and put him in a bizarre situation perfectly suited to let a badass black hero kick the maximum amount of gluteus maximus possible. "Slave Island" finds Black Dynamite investigating the titular "Slave Island," which turns out to be a theme resort run by the nefarious Noah Hicks. As the name suggests, the resort caters to a clientele that wishes to return to simpler times.
Simpler, more racist, times.
The island has a capacity of a few hundred guests and 2,000 slaves, who are all made to think that they're living in the pre-Civil War south. Because the theme is Southern Plantation. It's a strange conceit, but it sets Black Dynamite up to say things like, "There's just something about the word slavery that really pisses me off" and "Looks like I'm gonna have to do this whole slave revolt by my damn self."
And then he does.
The comic book is perfectly paced and hits the blend of comedy and action that made the film so enjoyable. By the time the villain Hicks calls in the cavalry (literally the U.S. Army, procured through a phone call to Richard Nixon), Black Dynamite has killed the aforementioned shark, seduced two women, held court with Alex Haley, killed countless goons and started a slave revolt.
There is no subtlety in the world of Black Dynamite: Everything is good and evil, as it were, black and white. When Black Dynamite confronts Noah Hicks, he rides into Hick's office on a horse, holding a torch. It's one of the book's most striking, hilarious images: a full page illustration of a torch-bearing, shirtless Black Dynamite on a massive stallion in the middle of Hicks' control center screaming at the villain who stands in the foreground hunched over a desk, "Noah Hicks, I'm here to burn this motherf----- down!"
The book ends with a cliffhanger, which, coupled with the cover's declaration that "Slave Island" is "The sensational First Issue!" seems to contradict Ars Nova and Ape Entertainment's claim that it's a one-off issue, suggesting that we will get more of Black Dynamite in the near future.
The end of Black Dynamite's theme song declares: "He'll be hauling you out with the rest of the trash, if your mouth write a check that your a-- can't cash!" Turning Black Dynamite into a comic book character was a bold move, but Ash, along with the character's creators, definitely cashed the check. It's a hilarious book that is as smart as it is ridiculous, and we can all feel safer knowing that Black Dynamite is out there cleaning up the streets and making comic book stores a little more interesting again.
