Moonstone is a comic book publisher which has produced several series based on licensed properties. Perhaps best known to gamers for its Vampire & Werewolf comics based on the White Wolf RPGs of the same names, the company has recently expanded with a Noir line, consisting of crime fiction stories involving original characters, characters based on actual people, and existing fictional characters who have never before appeared in a comic book. Jack Boyle's Boston Blackie falls into the last category, having starred in short stories, movies, a radio series, and a television series since his introduction in 1919. Writer Stefan Petrucha and artist Kirk Van Wormer do an excellent job of bringing Blackie into the comic book world.
In this tale the original version of Blackie is used, being a professional thief with his own code of ethics (as opposed to a private eye as he was depicted in later movies and on TV) operating in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, Blackie is an opium addict, and he decides to indulge in his drug of choice before beginning his job of stealing a diamond from a dishonest man. An opium haze overtakes Blackie while in the man's home, shortly after he encounters the diamond owner's young son. The boy disappears, and later Blackie is arrested and convicted of the theft of the diamond, which is never recovered by the authorities.
After Blackie spends several years in jail for the crime, the story fast-forwards to the week the statue of limitations runs out for the theft. Blackie is determined to find out exactly what happened to the young boy, fearful of what he may have done to the lad under the opium's influence. As he tries to find out the facts individuals on both sides of the law have a keen interest in Blackie and the missing diamond.
The characters in this comic are interesting and varied, from Blackie and his wife Mary (who is neither a gun moll nor willfully ignorant of her husband's life of crime, stereotypes that wife characters so often are in stories set in the early 20th century) to the suffragette (or "sufforagette," as it reads in a newspaper in one panel) turned police detective. Petrucha's ability to make every character a believable person really shines here. Also, at several points characters take actions that take the reader by surprise, but given the personalities and experiences of the individuals it is realistic for them to do what they do; a far cry from so many books nowadays, where characters take insane actions or make amazing leaps of logic, simply because the writer has backed himself into a corner and can't think of any other way to finish a story. The dialogue is also well done, having just enough of the hard-boiled pulp style to it without going into self-parody.
One of the best things about the book is that despite being a licensed title it is totally open to those unfamiliar with Boston Blackie. Too often in licensed comic books the authors assume the only readers of the comic will be fans already familiar with the series (causing those unfamiliar with the series to be confused if they buy the comic) or they devote most of the comic to recapping what occurred in the books/movies/TV shows the comic is based on, leaving longtime fans to feel like they've wasted their money on the comic book. Petrucha manages to avoid both pitfalls, his story telling us all we need to know about the characters from their behavior and dialogue. When there is a flashback to an event unrelated to the story it is brief, and does an excellent job of depicting Blackie's character with a minimum of pages being devoted to it.
The use of unique settings and technology that was rather cutting-edge in the early 1900s also adds a fun wrinkle to the story, but I won't spoil that for those who plan on reading the comic. The only problem I had with the story concerns the hiding place of the diamond; for some reason when the hiding place was revealed all I could think of was the CGC process of slabbing comics--yeah, the item is safe, but how can the owner ever enjoy looking at it again?
The cover art by Tim Seelig is exquisite, but I was left a little cold by Kirk Van Wormer's artwork for the interior pages. Maybe it's because the comic is in black and white, and I'm used to seeing his work in color, or maybe because it's the first time I've seen him ink his own work, but it somehow didn't seem up to his usual standard. Still, it's better than a lot of what passes for art in comics nowadays.
All in all I recommend Boston Blackie for anyone interested in period mystery stories. Even if you're not a comic fan, it could easily be mined for ideas for those running Call of Cthulhu or Adventure.
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