Written by: Jonathon Hickman
Art by: Tomm Coker & Michael Garland
Publisher: Image Comics
Funny story: I was supposed to review the latest Detective Comics but passed it off to Comics Dash’s Alex Handziek because that was a hard comic to talk about. I took this instead. I kind of want to swap back, because while I love Black Monday Murders to death, I kind of don’t know why.
If I had to guess though…if I had to guess, it’s that this comic has an extreme confidence to it that I respect. The plot is crazy—evil bankers, devil cults, black magic, living forever, and now some Nazi experiments—the issues are monsters in size, the comic isn’t afraid to use prose, and there’s pretty much zero exposition.
I mean, I don’t really know what’s going on some of the time, but in a good way, you know?
I suppose the overarching plot thus far is one of the evil bankers got murdered, and while the cops try and solve the case, the rest of the banker cult has to figure out what to do. There has to be a specific amount of these people or something goes wrong with the magic. This was all established last issue, and we continue with it here (after spending twenty pages on Nazi experiments and dimensional travel).
And what would normally be a flaw in any other comic save Sandman is a blessing here; this comic is not rushing to its next major plot beat. Honestly, the story doesn’t advance all that much. However, the pacing feels perfect, with just enough mystery, intrigue, and character moments to make it all feel worthwhile. If this is a slow burn, then I’m in it for the long haul.
Jonathon Hickman’s unique brilliance is executed to perfection by Tomm Coker and Michael Garland, because the style BMM has going for it is amazing. This is a comic that’s willing to use full, damn-near empty pages as page breaks and dry, redacted business documents to shape its world and its narrative.
The actual artwork is really great too!
I get that this review is kind of vague on the details, but I honestly don’t know how else to talk about BMM. You kind of just have to read it. Which you should. It’s great.
