‘Sins of the Black Flamingo #1’ Review
Written by Andrew Wheeler | Art by Travis Moore | Published by Image Comics
This was a purely random pick-up from me, but one with some logic attached. Firstly, it’s Image, and lately that has been quite the mark of quality. There have been some great books coming out from them of late, and Marvel and DC better watch out. Only so many Bat and Spidey books you can pump out before things get stale after all. Secondly, it’s set in Miami, and I love a bit of Miami. Thirdly, it’s got a great cover, shades of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in there. The preview blurb also sounded promising, all of which adds up to a ‘let’s give this a chance’ review.
Let’s take a look.
From the very first intriguing page, style oozes out from every panel. We are, of course, in Florida, and our main character has quite the scathing opinion of it. To be honest, who doesn’t? I love Florida but it’s a pretty weird place all right. Sebastian Harlow, the Black Flamingo, is a thief, but not your common run of the mill one. He works for hire, stealing on demand, and only jobs that are worthy of him. He’s something of an egotist it seems. His mantra is he robs from the rich because the poor have nothing worth stealing, and he looks fabulous while doing it. He has a pretty cool glittering eye mask to go with that attitude too, so he walks the walk and talks the talk. Oh, and he steals magic artifacts, nothing more, nothing less.
Flamingo’s been hired to steal something from a redneck museum, The Museum of American Heritage and Culture. He does this easy enough, and also finds something else he doesn’t want to leave there, so takes that for himself. The artifact he stole on demand was actually a golem heart, and the fact it revives a golem to life reminds us that, in this world, magic is very, very real. One hot shower later, and the papers he stole for himself seem to be describing a collar, one that can contain a demon or spirit. Intriguing stuff. It seems to belong to Thorndike Scar, at who’s home he is conveniently attending a house party later that very evening, with friend and confidante Ofelia. Not for long, if Harlow gets his way.
In his everyday guise as Sebastian Harlow, antiquities dealer, Flamingo meets Scar, making small talk while using his inner voice to scathingly deconstruct his rather gauche taste. Things aren’t entirely what they seem, however, as Flamingo can see demonic goings on under the surface. He gets companion Ofelia to create a distraction, pretty easy when you are a magic user as she is. Flamingo can sense something is very off here, and breaks his cardinal rule, never do a job when the mark knows who you are and that you are there. He soon wishes he hadn’t. The good news is he finds the collar. The bad news is, it’s being worn by someone who’s been imprisoned. Even worse, that someone seems to be an angel. A naked angel. With wings. That’s pretty impressive even for Florida.
This was a real breathe of fresh air. The premise alone is great fun, supernatural shenanigans in Florida, but throw in an excellent protagonist, and you’ve got a winner. Did I mention the main character is gay? Nope. Reason being, he’s a not a gay character, he’s a character who happens to be gay. He’s vain, material, superficial, pessimistic, and cynical, yet you still warm to him. Andrew Wheeler channels Flamingo’s voice really well, his internal monologuing a real highlight. The story itself is still finding its feet, but there’s enough there to make you come back next month. The art, by Travis Moore, is beautiful, making Flamingo look every bit as fabulous as he obviously thinks he looks. Nicely paced, with very nice individual panels throughout the whole issue. Looks as good as it reads.
Still finding its feet, but a very promising first issue.
Could this book be magic? Absolutely, darling.
