Black Knight by Si Spurrier !!!SPOILERS!!!

[Chris0013]

who are the heroes featured on the cover?

Sword Master and Aero.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Lin_Lie_(Earth-616)
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Lei_Ling_(Earth-616)

[mrjinjin]

As a long time BK fan, I was looking forward to see what new direction Si Spurrier was going to take Dane. I do not want to discuss specifically what happened at this time as the issue just came out a few days ago but I must admit it is interesting. The art was awesome although I always wondered why Dane's armor is colored mostly blue not black. I am looking forward to Spurrier's Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade limited series. I hope those on the fence will give it a try and pre-order it.

[Chris0013]

As a long time BK fan, I was looking forward to see what new direction Si Spurrier was going to take Dane. I do not want to discuss specifically what happened at this time as the issue just came out a few days ago but I must admit it is interesting. The art was awesome although I always wondered why Dane's armor is colored mostly blue not black. I am looking forward to Spurrier's Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade limited series. I hope those on the fence will give it a try and pre-order it.

Blue probably let's them do shading better that black.

[williamtheday]

I wonder if we'll ever hear again about the teen Black Knight introduced some years back, and what connection she has, if any, to Whitman.

[K7P5V]

I wonder if we'll ever hear again about the teen Black Knight introduced some years back, and what connection she has, if any, to Whitman.

Nick Dragotta is awesome! With that said, I'd love to see the return of young Black Knight. Vengeance from Joe Casey is a hidden treasure (IMHO):

[Dermie]

Oh, I know, but it’s just a 3 issue mini. I want to see Dane join Excalibur, or have an adventure in the past with Captain Britsy.

Its a 5 issue mini. But who knows--if it does well enough, maybe they'll extend it to an ongoing, or do a 2nd mini.

Excellent summary, Dermie.

Thanks.

The only thing missing would be the time during the '90s when Dane ended up in the Ultraverse, and became the leader of UltraForce.

If this is no longer canon, then it's a sad loss (IMHO)

I didn't bring up the Ultraverse period since it wasn't really a change in terms of Dane's portrayal, in terms of his personality, sanity or weaponry. He was in an entirely different universe, but his portrayal was basically a continuation of what it had been in the Harras AVENGERS run.

As far as I know all the Ultraverse stuff is still in-continuity...it just doesn't get referenced anymore.

[mrjinjin]

Blue probably let's them do shading better that black.

Thanks.

I wonder if we'll ever hear again about the teen Black Knight introduced some years back, and what connection she has, if any, to Whitman.

I think she is going to be in Black Knight: The Curse Of The Ebony Blade.

[James Hunter]

Thanks.

I think she is going to be in Black Knight: The Curse Of The Ebony Blade.

It would certainly be interesting if she did but it would come from nowhere. I don't mind that but it would be odd.

[mrjinjin]

It would certainly be interesting if she did but it would come from nowhere. I don't mind that but it would be odd.

This is the link to the article that she was mentioned: https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...e-black-knight

Although it does not specifically mention that she will be in the series, there might be a chance.

[Alex_Jamieson]

It IS accurate--but its also not true of how Dane has always been--but there's no such thing as how Dane's always been. He is a character that has been through a LOT of fluctuations over the years.

Prior to his first stint as an active Avenger in the 80s he spent several years back in time, living in the period of the Crusades with his mind inhabiting the body of one of his ancestors (while his own body was a stone statue in the present day). That experience left some lingering effects.

He was eventually restored to his normal self, where he joined the Avengers as an active member. During this period he was a fairly "normal" guy (apart from being a scientist who used a magic sword), and was fairly shy--he had a crush on the Wasp but couldn't bring himself to tell her, etc. Then the Ebony Blade's blood curse was triggered and Dane's sanity started to slip. His speech pattern changed to a more medieval style, and he started having bursts of rage, etc. Eventually the curse affected him physically as well and he was transformed into a metal statue.

That was eventually fixed after an incident with his ancestor Sir Percy possessing his body, and then restoring Dane to flesh and back in control of his own body with the blood curse lifted for now. After that Dane rejoined the Avengers in the 90s and started using an energy sword to avoid risking the blood curse again. Dane's personality during this run changed--he was more brash and impulsive, more assertive (he functioned as field leader a lot during this period even though Black Widow was officially the leader at he time), and got romantically entangled with multiple women at the same time. The change in his personality was noted at the time, and it was assumed to be a reaction to the parts of his life he "lost" during two separate times turned into a statue for months (years, in real time).

In the late 90s he changed again, when he got new enchanted weapons (the Sword of Light and Shield of Might) from Avalon during his stint with Heroes For Hire. At some point he stopped using those weapons and went back to the Ebony Blade...and has struggled with his mental health ever since. His solo series had him badly affected by the influence of the blade, but ended with the Avengers agreeing to trust him to keep it and himself under control, and he remained behind in Weirdworld. Since then he's turned up a few places here and there before this one-shot.

I think the one-shot did a good job of trying to strike a balance--in particular, showing Dane himself trying to strike the balance. He is still struggling with the effects of the sword, but he's not as close to losing control as he was in his last solo book. Right now Dane is trying to "fake it 'til you make it", and overdo the noble hero act as a way to counter balance the influence of the sword and hopefully keep himself as the hero that he knows he can be when he's got the curse under control.

As someone who has been a fan of Dane since the 80s, I am sad to see him struggling as much as he is now--but it absolutely is consistent with Dane's journey as he has struggled against the effects of the sword and its blood curse ever since he first inherited it. Its just that sometimes he has it under better control than he does right now--but we've also seen times when he's been worse. This middle ground seems to be a fertile place to tell some interesting stories with Dane.

Dermie, this post is excellent! Dane is my favourite character, and I think you've summed up his history here better than I have seen on any comic site article or even character databases!

[Reviresco]

First issue of Si Spurrier and Sergio Fernandez Davila's Black Knight Curse of the Ebony Blade is out on Wednesday!!!

There are EIGHT covers!

And here's an extensive five page preview at AIPT.

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/03/11/ex...ebony-blade-1/



Heck, AIPT already has a review of the issue and they give it a 9/10!

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/03/15/bl...lade-1-review/

[mrjinjin]

Just wondering if anyone liked issue #1. I thought it was a good start to the mini-series.

[Tien Long]

Thought it was interesting. I said before how I wasn't going to pick up, but well, I still want to see Black Knight slash things with his sword. There was plenty of that, which was cool.

I'm still trying to get a handle on Dane, what is his character and personality. I'm getting vibes of self doubt and darkness of some kind. I wouldn't go as far to say that he's Moon Knight crazy.

Good twist at the end. Shows this deep relationship between the Ebony Blade and Dane. And how does Jacks relate to that?

I'm game for issue #2.

[MollyBarton]

I just read #1. Liked it, but hated the way the Avengers thought of him. That's new.

[Sutekh]

I just read #1. Liked it, but hated the way the Avengers thought of him. That's new.

Ditto. It makes the other heroes (particularly Thor, who was extra salty) look like asses.

And it's been the trend for a decade or so to make formerly competent respected heroes 'the Homer' who is regarded as a hard-luck hero at best, and a screw-up at worst, by their peers. Scott Lang's gotten a ride on this down-and-out train, then Clint Barton, now it's Dane Whitman's turn on the bumble-tron, it seems.