Black Manta #3

Black Manta #3

DC Comics 2021

Written by Chuck Brown

Illustrated by Matthew Dow Smith

Coloured by Marissa Louise

Lettered by Clayton Cowles

Torrid and Manta’s fates violently collide and Manta’s link to Atlantis is revealed! Gallous uncovers Manta’s act of heroism, but will Manta continue on this path? Or will he turn away from good to teach Gallous that ice water in your veins is necessary for survival?

After reading this issue I fell into a deep dark Black Manta hole. Reading up on the character, how for most of his existence his past remained a mystery and how his origin was introduced and has evolved over time. I honestly hadn’t expected that to happen and I am kind of glad that it did because while I don’t feel I quite know the character I do understand him a little better. Also some people were just born to be villains and Manta is one of them so no amount of saving a boy's life is going to change that. Though if circumstances had been somewhat different would he have still saved him? I will say it is interesting to see when villains have rivalry with each other proving to a degree that there is no honour among thieves or at least that’s how the saying goes and I’d like to believe that.

I’m very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in spotlighting these constantly changing and evolving personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more I really want to see and learn.

I am really impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m also liking how we see the layers open up new avenues to be explored. The whole deal with Manta the Gentlemen Ghost for instance, Ancient Atlantis with the array of Manta Ships and of course there’s Torrid and all these elements within the story add such great depth, dimension and complexity. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

Matthew brings this really unique style to the story through his work. We get some great use of backgrounds, though I'd like to see them used more often, and the ancient city among them really enhance and expand the moments beautifully. They also work well within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The creativity and imagination that we see is extremely well rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a strong understanding of how colour works.

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I am not sure what it was I was expecting out of this book but it certainly wasn’t this. I figured we'd get some backstory, a fight with Aquaman and some insight into why he does what he does. I wasn’t expecting to see someone usurp his place in the world, fight and then possibly team-up with an Amazon and have a henchman, or henchwoman, that strives to understand him and guide him all of which encroaches upon his solo nature. I like it, it feels like character evolution being fought against every step of the way. With some excellent writing, strong characterisation alongside these dark and moody interiors it’s time for Black Manta to really shine.