DC reviews 2/8/22 – Detective Comics #1052, The Joker #12

Black Manta #6

Black Manta’s final issue was an interesting conclusion even if it felt somewhat rushed. If anything, it showed writer Chuck Brown had plenty more story to tell with Black Manta, his supporting cast and ready made rogue gallery.

For now, Brown had to settle the score with Black Manta and Devil Ray, a disillusioned character upset that Manta didn’t truly deliver what he promised his people. It’s an interesting look at a villain in the sense that Manta isn’t a role model, but his actions could cause greater harm to his followers.

Brown kept the nice cameos coming with more Global Guardians, a team that would really benefit from a passion project approach from a top tier writer.

Matthew Dow Smith’s art isn’t as smooth as the average title, but it works for the flow of the book. Marissa Louise’s color work is brilliant and puts a great spotlight on Dow Smith’s work.

The ending comes off somewhat abrupt, but it did wrap up the subplots to a reasonable degree. Brown leaves plenty of possibilities open for further stories for Black Manta, maybe some of which will be explored in Aquamen?

Rating: 8.5 out of 10