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Black’s Myth: The Key To His Heart #3 – Ahoy Comics
Creative Team: Eric Palicki & Wendell Cavalcanti (Cover By: Liana Kangas)
Welcome to another New Comic Book Day review from the N.I. Bullpen!
This time around we are taking a look at an ongoing series from Ahoy Comics. If werewolves and detective mysteries are your jam, then I think this may be the book for you on New Comic Book Day!
We’ll start with a brief recap of this spin off series from the original Black’s Myth line from Ahoy. Then we will dive head first into Black’s Myth: The Key To His Heart #3 from Ahoy Comics!
**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**
Issue 1 Recap
In the first issue of the series, we meet werewolf detective Janie Jones “Strummer” Mercado after she and her half djinn partner Ben Si’lat. It opens not long after they solved the case of Rainsford Black’s missing monster killing bullets and barely escaping themselves.
Strummer has recently found herself in a new relationship, and now has a new case to solve as well. After being startled by an “I love you” from her new girlfriend Carly, but doesn’t have time to deal with that right now. Tonight she has a case.
Strummer and Ben are off to find a missing teen named Claire Jenkins. It proves pretty easy for them to track her down and save her from “giving herself” so some jock. After scaring off the teen boy and showing Claire a real life Unicorn, Strummer decides to take Claire on as an intern.
It’s shortly after that we find out Claire is not just an ordinary teenager, but she is in fact a half human half demon hybrid. This is confirmed by her diary, which has entries talking about boys and highschool alongside horrific fantasies of death and gore.
After returning home, Ben and Strummer discover a package at the door. Ben blows it off as something he ordered a long time ago and has finally arrived. What we see a bit later, is that the package is from an old “friend” addressed to Strummer Mercado from an R. Black.
Find Issue #1 HERE
Issue 2 Recap
Issue 2 begins with Ben on the living room floor surrounded by loose book pages everywhere. Strummer comes out, observes the chaos, and calls Ben out for opening her mail and being dumb enough to leave the empty box by the coffee pot. She also happened to see who the package was from, and she is not excited to hear the name Rainsford Black again.
Ben explains that he thinks Black sent Strummer pages from a book called King Solomon’s Key. Legend has it that King Solomon had used this book of spells, along with magic rings to control spirits and demons to construct the original Temple of Jerusalem. If that is what Black sent, then there are at least 20 pages missing.
After picking up their new half demon intern Claire, they reluctantly head to the home of Rainsford Black. Black used to be a hunter of magical creatures, though he prefers the term “collector” since he would take trophies. On his most recent excursion (where he attempted to ride a creature he shouldn’t have) he was horribly burned and disfigured.
Black then breaks the news that he did not send anything to Strummer at all. In fact, it’s Black who actually has the missing pages! He had the entire book at one point, but after an unfortunate incident involving a mysterious girl and a ritual from the book, he tore those 20 pages from the book and left, never seeing the woman again. As a matter of fact, Black can’t even remember the woman’s name or face. Almost like the memories were erased from his mind.
After being compensated for their previous case, and being given 2 silver bullets to be used at her discretion, Strummer and company head off. When they arrive home, they find Carly being attacked by a monster known as The Grim. After transforming to her werewolf form to save Carly, Carly is horrified by everything and runs out of the apartment. Strummer hadn’t told her about any of the supernatural aspects of her life.
Now the torn up body of The Grim, which has now taken a human form, is littered across the apartment and Carly has run away. What’s next?
Find Issue #2 HERE
Now What?
We are treated to a scene where Ben and Claire are in the desert burying the body from the end of the last issue. Strummer is drinking and trying to call her girlfriend Carly to try and salvage their relationship after being forced to take werewolf form in front of her.
Come to find out, the body they are burying is in fact the son of Rainsford Black. Strummer has come to the conclusion that Black is not the one who sent the monster (his son) after them. The monster came looking for the book sent to Strummer.
After discussing her theory and reasoning with Black, he points out that if it wasn’t him, then Strummer’s list of suspects just got a lot shorter. It had to be someone who knew enough about them to assume Strummer would blame Black. Her first thought…Black’s driver! Black advises that she may want to consider someone else who may have been the target…
Meet Eddie
Eddie is Carly’s soon-to-be ex husband. Strummer and Carly met when she and Ben were hired to find out if Eddie was cheating on Carly.
Strummer goes to Eddie’s apartment and gives him what is possibly the worst wake up call in history. Putting him through the window and then slamming him across the room, she turns back to her human form to interrogate Eddie.
Eddie eventually admits to sending the book to Strummer. He says that it was given to him, along with the plan of Carly being “collateral damage,” by a woman he can’t remember. The plan was supposed to take out Carly and pin the blame on Black for attempting to kill Strummer. Carly was meant to die in the chaos.
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Witches Are Real
Strummer now knows that the real culprit must be a witch. Of which there are several different types we are told. What they are up against now, they are assuming, is a Diabolical Witch. These are the evil witches that good witches are often mistaken for. Ben says this is what actually led to the Salem Witch Trials.
Claire then finally chimes in. She reasons that the demon that attacked them didn’t just happen to attack when it did. It could have attacked at the same time the book arrived or even killed the mailman on the way to deliver it. She says that the book and demon were a “shotgun” aimed at Strummer and fired at exactly the moment it was intended to.
Ben says that the book was originally accompanied by a ring in ancient times, which allowed King Solomon to control the demons and spirits used to build his temple. It’s a small clue but it’s something to start with.
The Speakeasy
The next stop for our trio is a “speakeasy” in the middle of a vacant lot. On the outside, it looks like just a broken refrigerator in an abandoned lot. After pushing Claire through, and being warned of some “strong pheromones” between himself and Claire by Strummer, they follow Claire into the speakeasy, which is a full on club on the inside.
The speakeasy is where magical creatures, like Strummer and Ben, can go to socialize and not have to hide what they really are from anyone. It’s basically a social club for cryptids for lack of a better phrase.
Tonight, Strummer is here to talk to witches, and she finds three at a booth. She offers to trade the witches one of her silver bullets from Black in exchange for a name. They say that if they can give the name then they will. After being shown an insignia supposed to be on the mystery witches ring, they say they will give the name, and Strummer can keep her bullet, because she will likely end up needing it.
As Strummer and the group head home, they are met outside by a Detective Chandler, who is currently investigating the murder of Edward Barnhardt (Eddie) and has questions about Strummer’s whereabouts.
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Story Review
Palicki is crafting a top tier detective story with this series. Each issue leaves you wanting more and ends on a perfect cliffhanger in each issue so far.
There is a lot going on and a lot of players involved in this story. Being new to the series myself, I still didn’t feel as though I had to catch up on the entire previous series in order to understand the plot. Having said that, it 100% made me want to go back and read the original run of Black’s Myth (which is also excellent).
Strummer’s struggle to keep up her relationship with Carly is one highlight of the story for me. I’m interested to see if Carly is going to be willing to accept Strummer now that she knows the truth about her werewolf nature.
I’m equally excited to see the growth of Claire, as she proves to be a talented detective in her own right.
Artwork Overview
The art from Cavalcanti and lettering from Steen add to the noir feel of the entire series. Black and white was a fantastic choice for this detective series.
I have read some black and white comics in the past, where the color scheme inevitably leads to a loss in detail within the panels. That’s not the case here with this series. The use of shading and light sources give plenty of depth to every panel, and the pace of each action sequence still feels intense and fast moving.
If you’re looking for a comic book series where the artwork matches the tone and theme, you have found a winning pick with this comic.
Overall Score: 8.5 OUT OF 10 – “Must Pull”
A good detective story will always leave the reader wanting more. This is no exception.
Myths, magic, cryptids and mystery are a plenty in Black’s Myth: The Key To His Heart #3 from Ahoy Comics. So if those are your thing, I highly recommend picking this one up on New Comic Book Day this week at your local comic book shop!
As always everyone Be Safe, Be Kind, and Take It Easy!
