Best comic book covers of the week – February 1 2020

Posted on February 1, 2021

3 min read

One of Marvel’s longest-serving heroes may just be one of its most forgotten as well. Introduced all the way back in 1967, the Black Knight has held many roles over the years, from Avengers team leader, a knight flung across time, and the wielder of some of the most powerful weapons in existence. Come February 3, the hero known as Dane Whitman to his friends is getting not only a new one-shot tale but also a chance to once again step into the spotlight.

Convenient, given that he has a feature film in development that’ll star Game of Thrones Alum Kit Harrington as the tortured swordsman who wields a blade that threatens to kill the user. “I think it’s fair to say he’s in a kinda sorry state,” writer Simon Spurrier said to Newsarama, referencing Whitman’s short solo series run after the events of Secret Wars in 2015.

One of the things that fascinates me most about the character is how conflicted and complex his backstory has become. In this one-shot we’ll find him trying (and failing) to pretend he’s totally okay – totally happy with the way his life is going. He’s developed these absurd strategies to just keep rolling – to keep playing the part of this faux-medieval swashbuckler – when in fact he’s having a full-on crisis of confidence and identity.
He doesn’t know where he fits into the hero-ing world, and it quickly becomes clear he doesn’t even really understand his own abilities and the things that make him special.

That one-shot will lead into Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade, a mini-series that aims to deconstruct Whitman’s persona and rebuild him into a more defined hero for the modern age. “In this story we begin the process of untangling, reconciling, and simplifying who and what the Black Knight actually is,” Spurrier SAID. “What he can do and how he does it. We’re essentially presenting a new take which unifies, respects, and pays homage to all the old takes while explaining why Dane Whitman has never really felt like he belongs…”

Basically, the one-shot leaves Dane with a newfound understanding of his whole status quo. And it’s a big, scary, life-changing deal,” he continues. “The series asks: what does he do with this knowledge? And I’m sorry to report that it doesn’t, alas, make his day-to-day any easier. In fact, things are only going to get darker, bloodier, more brutal, and waaaay stranger from here on. And the long-dead ghosts of Camelot are calling.

Verily! It won’t be too long of a wait for the Black Knight to once again be a force to be reckoned with. Until then, take a gander at his superb one-shot cover by Dan Mora, and the rest of this week’s best comic book covers!