A Black Beetle Graphic Novel

2013, Darkhorse, hardcover, about 140 pages?

I have enjoyed some comics, but dislike superheroes intensely, so this was a stretch for me. The Black Beetle stalks the night of the World War II era East Coast town of Colt City. This is at once a departure from the homosexual inbreeding of DC and Marvel superheroes and a tribute to their origin as World War II era anti-Nazi propaganda. I quite like the Nazi bad guys in this one. And, not to wax too jingoistic, Francavilla includes plenty of nasty homegrown villains of the classic gangster and abusive-youth-generated super villain types.

There are comic conventions that bother me, such as the characters talking to themselves, and stopping to explain why they do what they do, giving the writer an excuse to engage in gross exposition. That said, The Black Beetle is fun, and also a believable costumed vigilante.