Knighted

Knighted #2

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by Gregg Hurwitz

Illustrated by Mark Texeira

Coloured by Brian Reber

Lettered by Andworld Design

Bob Ryder is a hapless bureaucrat whose bad luck streak comes to a crescendo when he accidentally kills the city's masked vigilante, The Knight. Oops. Now, Bob is forced to take on the mantle of the legendary hero before the city descends into chaos. Good thing he's got The Knight's former butler/assistant to show him the ropes.

This is an exciting new series and while it is only five issues this time around there is already so much that has been introduced that I want to see explored. Before we get into all that let’s talk about the butler/assistant and how his witty repartee steals every scene he is in. Mind you I had no idea Ben Franklin said that but I do know the verse because of the Pretty Little Liars theme song. A not so veiled threat as told through historical context, yes please I’d like to see more of that moving forward. Now I also have to say that I am thoroughly engaged in this book because I want to know if there’s a chance Bob gets access to the house full-time or the bank account that goes with it, which of course there are very specific reasons for this. I mean inquiring minds want to know.

I am absolutely loving 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 are 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 furthering and establishing the personalities we see. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story and introducing new characters leaves me with the desire to see, know and learn more.

I am a fan of the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also a fan of the way we see these layers open up new avenues to be explored. Bob’s nephew, his fiancée and the problems he inherits from the previous Knight all do wonders in adding depth, dimension and complexity to the story. 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.

I am such a fan of Tex’s work. The linework that we see is exquisite and the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work is extraordinary to see. How we see faces, facial expressions and body language all further the characterisation beautifully. We see some spectacular use of backgrounds here, though more would be nice, as they enhance and expand the moments. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows an extraordinary understanding of how colour works.

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This is an exciting fresh take on a type of character we’ve seen so many times before. That it is so radically unique and different is what thrills me about what we are seeing here. This kind of revives the type of character we see and brings us back to a sort of basics with him in a way that we’d never have expected to see. With this amazing writing and phenomenal characterisation wrapped up in these bloody brilliant interiors we finally see a book that’s able to balance dark angst with dark humour to create something special.