Mix in Conan the Barbarian, Spartacus, the King Arthur myths and a touch of Mad Max and you've got the formula for Blackmark, a work by industry legends Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin that started to push the boundaries of what comics could do. The book does not look particularly revolutionary in 2002, but when you consider that it was created over 30 years ago, this illustrated novel that is a mixture of science-fiction and fantasy genres and is unquestionably aimed at an adult audience, it starts to look a lot more impressive. While I wouldn't hold Blackmark up against the later work of Kane or Goodwin, it does stand as a testament to how good both of these gentlemen have always been, even when the industry wasn't quite ready for them.
In general, I'm not completely sure about the illustrated novel format, and I'm even less sure when it's a small size, black and white book. Blackmark is a gorgeous book with good paper stock and a design that should make it popular in bookstores as well as the direct market, but the small size doesn't always make Kane's splash pages pop the way they could. However, Kane does really create a sense of the epic in his work, particularly on the pages where Blackmark is confronted by visions of destiny. Like the Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers comic strips, Blackmark does sometimes look a little dated and bland when compared to the technological visions of today's science-fiction, but it's hard not to admire the detail and the strong anatomy that Kane is known for.
In terms of story, Blackmark is fairly universal, following a young man from humble beginnings through his rise into becoming a hero and then a ruler. The story is done in the style of epic adventure, a mixture of the scale and imagination of Star Wars with a more dark and adult tone that belongs to something like Spartacus or its modern-day cousin Gladiator. While the key story points include psionic monsters, an energy blade and a rocket ship of destiny, the story is also grounded in the basic story of losing ones parents, living as a slave and fighting against a brutal and uncaring world to make it better.
What impresses me is how Goodwin and Kane take a fairly predictable plot and stock characters and make it a fascinating and twisted ride. The identity of Blackmark's nemesis should have been obvious, but some clever misdirection, along with a space between the setup and the resolution, gave rise to a surprise revelation for me. In addition, Kane and Goodwin are not beholden to the idea of a happy ending; Blackmark pays for his hubris and his vengeance, and his rise to power is never easy. The material sometimes features cheesy dialogue or veers into melodrama, but mostly it holds up remarkably well.
It's hard to argue against the merits of Blackmark. It's a piece of comic-book history, a solidly produced book and an example of work from two of the finest creators to grace the medium. The short treatise on the historical significance of the work that finishes out the volume is icing on the cake.
