“…the breakfast cereal!”
Uncanny Origins #11
Marvel Comics (July, 1997)
The Black Knight: “Bloodline”
WRITER: Glenn Herdling
ARTIST: Mark Campos
COLORIST: Bob Sharen
LETTERER: Jack Morelli
EDITOR: Joe Andreani
The first man calling himself the Black Knight was basically a superhero in King Arthur’s court, chosen by Merlin and pretending to be a court jester. The second was a supervillain who fought the Avengers, but in a battle with Iron Man was mortally wounded, managing to reach a farmhouse and call his nephew to use what he created to do good instead of evil, having a change of heart a bit too late. Thus Dane Whitman became the third Black Knight, a hero once more in contact with his ancestor and bearing a cursed blade until he gave it up after joining the very Avengers his uncle had once fought against.
What they got right: With the Black Knight about to appear in Heroes For Hire at the time, this was a good point to reintroduce the Black Knight to audiences. And it’s an interesting backstory for the hero. The art is usually pretty good and I liked the story.
What they got wrong: I really don’t have any complaints here.
Recommendation: A rather good superhero origin story told well. It’s worth checking out, although I don’t know what’s happened to the character in recent years. We will be seeing him soon in Heroes For Hire though.
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