Scan barcode
A review by crookedtreehouse
Black Badge Vol. 1 by Tyler Jenkins, Matt Kindt
3.0
Matt Kindt is one of the best pitch writers currently working in comics. I've loved most of his work, even whenthe characters are rarely as fleshed out as I'd hope, even when it feels like I'm reading a well-illustrated Wikipedia entry about a fantastic series rather than just reading that series.
For me, that's how Black Badge felt. I liked the story beats, and the watercolor illustrations, but neither the story nor the paneling and layouts made this story particularly stand out. In this first volume about a group of Black Ops Boy Scouts, each character gives their origin story in a flashback completely unrelated to the story's main adventure (calling in an air strike in North Korea, for example). Even with those back stories, it's hard to see these characters as anything more than devices through which the plot moves along.
As a silly adventure story with hyperbolic stakes, I'm intrigued, and will keep reading, but the most excited I was during my read-through was when Kindt tied this directly into [b:MIND MGMT, Volume One: The Manager|16255052|MIND MGMT, Volume One The Manager|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406391108l/16255052._SY75_.jpg|22298040], and referenced the existence of [b:Grass Kings, Vol. 1|35606635|Grass Kings, Vol. 1|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501538217l/35606635._SY75_.jpg|57044244]. those are fun Easter Eggs, but they shouldn't have been the high points of this story.
I do recommend it for people who enjoy Kindt's watercolor style work (he's not the artist on this book, [a:Tyler Jenkins|4773224|Tyler Jenkins|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is, but it's evocative of Kindt's watercolors without seeming at all derivative. Fans of ridiculous Mission Impossible style romps might also enjoy this.
For me, that's how Black Badge felt. I liked the story beats, and the watercolor illustrations, but neither the story nor the paneling and layouts made this story particularly stand out. In this first volume about a group of Black Ops Boy Scouts, each character gives their origin story in a flashback completely unrelated to the story's main adventure (calling in an air strike in North Korea, for example). Even with those back stories, it's hard to see these characters as anything more than devices through which the plot moves along.
As a silly adventure story with hyperbolic stakes, I'm intrigued, and will keep reading, but the most excited I was during my read-through was when Kindt tied this directly into [b:MIND MGMT, Volume One: The Manager|16255052|MIND MGMT, Volume One The Manager|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406391108l/16255052._SY75_.jpg|22298040], and referenced the existence of [b:Grass Kings, Vol. 1|35606635|Grass Kings, Vol. 1|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501538217l/35606635._SY75_.jpg|57044244]. those are fun Easter Eggs, but they shouldn't have been the high points of this story.
I do recommend it for people who enjoy Kindt's watercolor style work (he's not the artist on this book, [a:Tyler Jenkins|4773224|Tyler Jenkins|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is, but it's evocative of Kindt's watercolors without seeming at all derivative. Fans of ridiculous Mission Impossible style romps might also enjoy this.