Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade

Black Knight

by Simon Spurrier, Sergio Dávila (Illustrator), Marc Deering (Illustrator)

Dane Whitman rides again as the Black Knight, wielder of the magical Ebony Blade! But Dane bears the burden of the blade’s curse: an insatiable lust for blood and mayhem that forever threatens to swallow its owner in darkness. Following the battle against the King in Black, a reinvigorated Dane has a renewed sense of purpose. But the Ebony Blade is the key to a new enemy’s evil plan, and only Dane can prevent the coming death and destruction. The conflict — spanning from mythical Camelot to modern-day NYC — will test Dane like never before and challenge everything he believes about himself, the Ebony Blade, and the entire history of his lineage! Guest starring the Avengers and Elsa Bloodstone — plus Thor in a duel with the first Black Knight!

COLLECTING: Black Knight: Curse Of The Ebony Blade (2021) 1-5

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 2021

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this.



Other than a single issue in The Death of Doctor Strange Companion, I've never read a Black Knight comic. This means, that if you've been a huge fan and reading this character's comics for years, you may have a different reaction than I did. I'm not coming at this as someone who knows the character or the lore behind him.
Also, because I read the companion story in Death of Doctor Strange I already knew the outcome of this thing. But that didn't bother me or hurt my enjoyment of the story at all.



The Black Knight is a heredity title that has been passed down through the ages. You get a sword and superpowers, but the sword uses your sadness, regrets, and rage to get the job done. A vicious cycle that eventually eats the sword-bearer up.
That's the version of things in this comic, at any rate.

The gist is that Dane isn't one of the cool kids. So, while the Avengers call him in to help, they aren't inviting him out for drinks afterward. He's a tad depressed.
Jacks, a young woman who studies Arthurian legend, shows up to interview him and spoilery magic things happen. Evil villains, lost artifacts, secret realms, and immortal shenanigans ensue.
The story is cool and fun and slick, and just all the things that I personally like in a magical fantasy comic.
Also, Elsa Bloodstone!



Spurrier is very hit or miss for me, and I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way.
So if this sounds like something you would be interested in, but you've been avoiding it because he's the author, you may want to go ahead and check it out.

Recommended.

[Scratch · Rating 2 out of 5]

No. I do not accept this miniseries. I understand that it only exists because Marvel wants to capitalize on Kit Harrington playing Dane Whitman in the upcoming Eternals movie. I understand that a bunch of n00bz are going to get on here and write, "I'd never heard of the Black Knight before this!"

But I can't forgive the travesty that was done here.

Dane Whitman is one of my favorite characters. If you started reading comics in the early 90s, you would have no choice but to see Dane as a pivotal character in the Avengers. His alternate reality counterpart Proctor was the primary villain for a couple years, and Dane had a long-running love triangle with Sersi, Crystal, and Crystal's husband Quicksilver. He wasn't just a well-respected member of the Avengers throughout all that, but also a scientist, and he went on to become leader of both the Avengers AND Ultraforce. After Dane and Sersi finished the majority of their long-running storyline in Avengers, they got swept up in Marvel's acquisition of Malibu comics, and they bounced between the two universes.

Later in the 90s, Dane was informed by the Lady of the Lake that he IS the pendragon. Arthur is dead, and isn't supposed to come back (although this year he did in Excalibur, but that's another story...), and Dane is the foretold replacement. He was gifted with new magical gifts and powers in Heroes for Hire, including "the sword of light and the shield of night," and a new flying steed. These weapons and steed weren't "retconned" thereafter, so much as they were simply forgotten. Later writers just didn't read that run of Heroes for Hire, so it didn't occur to anyone to address these things again.

But in this miniseries? Dane's personality is perverted. He's made into a loser. What's worse is that the writer bastardized all the OTHER Avengers' personalities, making it so that we now are supposed to think the other Avengers don't really like him very much. He is portrayed as pathetic and needy, depressed and broken.

I actually like the idea of a hero whose power is based upon his depression and trauma. That appeals to me as a former angsty teen. I like the idea of proudly wielding my scars.

But there was no reason to pervert a well-respected Avenger just to introduce such a character to the Marvel universe. Writers could have invented a new character. There was no need to take a shit all over Dane Whitman.

Elsa Bloodstone shows up in this miniseries and proceeds to treat Dane like garbage. She inexplicably calls him a bad scientist, without even any evidence to support this assertion. I mean, based on what, bitch? He has a Ph. D. He cloned winged horses and invented a lightsaber and psychically joined with a hottie Eternal. All you ever did was wear a necklace and talk about your daddy issues while you would shoot things, you fucking cow.

Sorry, but it irks me that the writer wanted to shit over Dane so much, he brought in another character to mock him, when it is Dane Whitman's fucking book.

Marvel, if you are reading this, you CANNOT maintain this retcon.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never cared about the Black Knight...until now. He always seemed kind of stodgy and just boring in the Avengers, often treated as a stand in for Captain America. I like this new take and I get the complaints but I think it plays after largely missing the last 20 years of Marvel history. He would be seen as something of a loser by the Avengers. How the Avengers treat Dane in the first issue is hilarious. He's this guy they put up with when they need his help. I like the idea that he gets more powerful as he gets more negative. As he becomes more depressed or evil, he gains strength. Anyway I thought this was great.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good for a limited series about a character nobody really cares about (and he knows it!)



I'd forgotten the 616 Dane Whitman is 'Murican, made for some cringeworthy banter at least.

As is often the case, the writer's original creation is the character who is best defined and most entertaining. I'd be up for seeing some more dysfunctional adventures between Jacks and Dane in the future in one title or another!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not intimately familiar with the Black Knight outside of the Avengers and some other team-up stuff, but that's not a problem here since Si Spurrier gives you everything you need to know - he's a bit of a loser, and his sword's a bastard that runs on him being sad. But, as is often the case, all is not as it appears to be, and it's time to do some retcons!

Usually books like this are just to serve a purpose, to make a character relevant again in time for their appearance in a movie (hello, Kit Harington playing Dane Whitman in Eternals) but Spurrier manages to make this fun without seeming rote. The changes are actually interesting, and set Dane on a new path that I'd like to see explored in another book soon, and how he manages to get to the final conclusion is a journey worth taking for all involved. It's a bit heavy on the Arthurian stuff, but that comes with the territory.

Sergio Davila's on art, and does an amiable job. It's nothing overly spectacular, but it does what it needs to do.

Black Knight could do a lot worse than this when it comes to re-introductory mini-series. Some fun dialogue, a few clever twists and some nice art make for an enjoyable read, with just enough hooks that I'd like to revisit this story again soon.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but I wanted so much more story and more depth and less witty banter. Everything does not need witty banter.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some cool ideas at play here to further expand and develop the Ebony Blade and the history of the Black Knight, but where it falls short is in how it characterizes Dane Whitman. There’s a forced humor at work here that comes across unnaturally and clashes with the history of this character.

He’s depicted as kind of a loser, something that is acknowledged by his peers in the Avengers and aggressively so by Elsa Bloodstone (who has plays a needlessly large role in this miniseries). The Black Knight has a long and rich history in Marvel comics, even leading the Avengers for years at a time. He was also the leader of the Ultraforce crossover series back when Marvel attempted that experiment. He’s a brilliant physicist and arguably the greatest swordsman in the Marvel Universe. So, why would he be depicted as a loser who needs to complain about his own status and lack of recognition? Why do we need to be told that his flying horses are poorly made clones?

My theory is that since the Black Knight has never caught on in the mainstream and remained relatively obscure outside the knowledge of Marvel comic fans, the writer thought this should be reflected in his character. He’s never been popular with enough readers so now he’s an unpopular hero in the Marvel Universe as well. Thor apparently hates him. Captain America is embarrassed by him. This is played for laughs at the expense of a D-List superhero, but it feels so forced and uncharacteristic of the character.

Black Knight grapples with an evil weapon that drives him to harm others and corrupts his soul, in turn making him more powerful. This is a dark direction for the character that presents interesting possibilities for drama. Why does it need to be funny? Maybe the next writer should just embrace the darkness every now and then.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some decent ideas, and I appreciate that you get a comic once you have an MCU deal, but please stop writing every character like they are being played by Robert Downey jr or Paul Rudd.

The endless attempts at 'witty dialogue', especially when it's a character not known for being a jokey guy is grating.
And then we get into the 'let's treat the hero like a loser and have every member of the cast treat him like he's a loser' trope.
Hated it back in the 80's and it hasn't gotten any more entertaining.

Shame, I was hoping this would be better than the last two attempts at giving the Knight his own series.
He's got a ton of potential, not sure why people keep messing it up.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curse of the Ebony Blade offers a dense, dialogue-heavy introduction to the Black Knight character that's sufficiently exciting and well-illustrated, but ultimately hollow. Dane Whitman is whiny and privileged, not exactly an endearing character. He's not excited that the Black Knight's abilities revolve around him being gloomy and angry. Neither am I, since it makes for a generally off-putting character - emo Hulk, basically.

Si Spurrier tries to make Dane sympathetic by giving him a relationship with a random historian, Jacks. It works in one instance (Dane reveals Jacks is his daughter in an affecting, deaths-door speech), but for the majority of the book, the two don't gel. Elsa Bloodstone also shows up to add some spice. Mordred is the boring, monologue-prone villain.

Curse of the Ebony Blade shoehorns in a whole bunch of Camelot mythology while also introducing several ebony objects of vague importance. There's a lot going on here, and while it's mostly exiting, it's also rather forgettable. Doesn't exactly make me excited for Black Knight's minor cameo in the Eternals movie.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look I completely get the complaints about this series, but I absolutely loved Si Spurrier’s take on Black Knight. Hilarious and a great sort of “passing the torch” story. Can’t wait to see them return and I really hope Spurrier writes it.

[Alex Sarll]

With his love of untrustworthy protagonists, Si Spurrier is a natural match for Dane Whitman*, the sometime Avenger who derives his powers from a cursed blade which, like a reverse Mjolnir, makes him stronger the worse he is, yet which over the centuries his family have desperately tried to use for good. At first I was a little disappointed the series didn't seem to be running with Al Ewing's interpretation, in one of his earliest unified field theories of Marvel, that the Ebony Blade is the anti-Excalibur, and that while the latter embodies all that is best in Britain, the former is the worst of us, the Daily Mail made (even more of) a weapon. But after all, that story was from nearly a decade ago, when it was a little less ridiculous to believe that Britain even has a good side, so small wonder if Spurrier instead goes the full Once & Future, the whole myth of Camelot a poisonous legacy and the Blade just another part of that. It's not as wholly grim as that summary makes it sound; there's plenty of humour here, even if much of it comes from the guest stars (the current Avengers looking on Dane as the embarrassing former colleague who still tags along; the reliably dry Elsa Bloodstone). But it's still very much a story about entitlement, wallowing in unhappiness, unaccountable tech giants and unpleasant legacies. Very now, in other words. Davila's art is solid, great on the big Camelot splashes and not too house style elsewhere, even if I did sometimes find myself longing for a stranger look (the things Immonen could have done with this!). My main complaint, though, is that despite being set up by a King In Black one-shot from the same writer, that's not included - and yes, I'm as surprised as anyone to find myself asking for more King In Black.

*I always want to say Dane Bowers.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me this fell under are they going to do anything interesting with a character I've always thought has looked kind of cool?

The answer is not quite. Dane Whitman, aka The Black Knight, whines almost as much as Peter Parker. Hell, I'm willing to admit most of these type of characters probably need therapy, and I would even read that. I retain the opinion that Tom King's Heroes in Crisis got mucked with by editorial (and the retcon that came after-pure crap. King's concept was really good, as was some of the early issues).

So, anyways now that I've digressed, and tried to establish I'm not totally insensitive-

This is for the reader who wants to see how Marvel is retconning parts of Whitman's, The Black Knight's (the multiple generations), Merlin, and Arthurian mythologies.

If you're down for that-go for it.

Otherwise you might want to read something else.

note: read as digital floppies

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

The new Zelda game has taken over my life, please help me, send help

[Justin Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rough bits for sure. All the flashback stuff dragged each time but I understand it’s there for context because he’s not a very prominent character.

I don’t mind the twist in how the sword works vs what was said for the rest of his history, but some of the characterization of making a fool of himself was not my favorite.

I am excited for the set up going forward (last page).

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loads of retcons and changes that were hardly necessary. Even knowing the endpoint the author aimed for, the changes made to a long established character weren’t needed, least of all the huge disrespect & out-of-character bits by nearly all Avengers characters in issue 1

That said, intriguing end to the story that shows promise but still didn’t make me happy with how the Black Knight was treated to get there

[Steven Schend · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loads of retcons and changes that were hardly necessary. Even knowing the endpoint the author aimed for, the changes made to a long established character weren’t needed, least of all the huge disrespect & out-of-character bits by nearly all Avengers characters in issue 1

That said, intriguing end to the story that shows promise but still didn’t make me happy with how the Black Knight was treated to get there

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the use of cursed artifacts in this story to fight evil. Of course, the side effects are nasty. It's a great alternative Arthur saga as well.

[Miga Avalos · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read.

[Michael J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was an interesting and mostly entertaining update on one of Marvel's under-utilized characters (in my opinion), it wasn't entirely satisfying. Writer Simon Spurrier depicts Black Knight/Dane Whitman as an insecure loser-type with self-esteem issues that he tries to cover by speaking like a medieval knight and bragging obnoxiously. As the story moves forward, Spurrier seems to discard some of those behaviors and focus on the loser aspects of Whitman's personality. Before the series concludes he is upstaged by two strong female characters, Elsa Bloodstone and art student Jacks.
The art kept me engaged throughout as well as the side stories involving the original Black Knight (who once fought Thor, also detailed here) Merlin, the history of the Ebony Blade. What would this be without a wicked villain, here in the presence of Modred. The story advances the Black Knight to the next level, with hints at more involvement in the Marvel Universe to come. It might be difficult for a new writer to pick up all the threads that Spurrier planted and continue. I'm guessing they will probably drop some of the mental aspects of the character. We'll see.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante, pero no me termina de convencer.

[jeremi · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BLACK KNIGHTS AT THE END GIRL I WAS GAGGEDDDD

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good...

[Βαλάντης Δοξάκιερ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read yesterday all the 5 issues of this graphic novel comicbook miniseries story ark run of Black Knight to introduce myself to the lore(this kind of lore of marvel comics universe) of Black Knight and the urban neomedieval adventures and gimmics of this character and the Marvel Universe and to tell you the truth: I did not have a very big knowledge about Dane Whitman The Black Knight, only the basic stuff I have known for him such as that his predecessor was a villainous uncle black knight and that Dane becomes the heroic modern version of the Black Knight to redeem his uncle and attone for both of them and their questionable acta and mistakes and flaws but also that he was an avenger and he had a relationship and romace even a deep strong bond and connection with Sersi of The Eternals and that The Ebony Blade The Ancient Legendary Mighty Sword Relic of his is truly cursed and sinister as much as Dane Whitman the Black Knight Himself just like all his other predecessors before him who had world the specific wicked dark sword!!!!

This is a very good Comicbook Series for someone such as myself who is newbie yet to the Epic Dark Medieval Legendary Lore and Saga of the Black Knight and his epic dark tragic heroic sinister tales and I like the story a lot and the action and the characters who appear to this Comicbook MiniSeries!!!! For 6 years that I have been aware of The Basic Informations and Origin of Black Knight I thought of him as a very lame character and superhero not because I needed or not because I was expecting a very complex and deep sophisticated origin and personality from this character but because even though he is a fictional modern urban neomediaval knight superhero/anti-hero it still felt a little lame and stupid to see him walking around with a dark cursed sword and killing only robots or demons and not slaughter actual evil and foul bad guys and supervillains like wolverine does in his comics or in the x-men and avengers comics(which as very big lover and fan or Medieval Epic Fantasy and Medieval Adventures and the Arturian Legend, Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, Saint George and the Dragon and Knights themselves it felt so corny and lame and stupid to have a marvel or a dc modern knight superhero and that superhero to be not doing anything with the sword like slaughtering very wicked people inside the comics(once again I am saying that only the basics of lore I knew about Black Knight and I haven't had read before any other Comicbooks of his at all until now) but this Comicbook Series has fixed a little bit the problem for me:actually Dane slaughters some foes with the sword!!!!

Moon Knight, is more interesting and much more fascinating and better superhero and character than Black Knight in
many many ways such as the lore, the story and things Moon Knight does and his adventures but Black Knight is still good as well but I prefer Moon Knight always!!!!

I am gonna find more comics with Bpavl Knight and Moon Knight to read and enjoy even more these charactersand dwell deeper to their lore and also to see more adventures of them soon enough!!!!

I like a lot the ending of this Comicbook Series even though I wanted this Comicbook Series of Black Knight to be more issued such as 12 issues totally(because after the ending of this Comicbook Series Run I miss a lot of Black Knight even though now is another character who shares alongside Dane Whitman the Superhero Code Name Title and The Mantle of Black Knight: I can tell you who it is but I like it so much more that they are 2 Black Knights now fighting evil and sharing the curse and the blessing of the Ebony Blade and the title of Black Knight!!!!)

I already miss even more both Black Knights but for now at least I have Moon Knight to read and enjoy!!!!

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Black Knight is a Marvel character I don't know much about. Having seen him in the pages of Avengers before, and seeing the start of his journey in the MCU in Eternals, gave me a tiny place to start from, so I picked up this GN. It ended up being a good dive into the lore of the character and made me thirsty for me. We'll see how that pans out...
Dane Whitman is the Black Knight, bearer of the Ebony Blade, a sword dating back to the time of Camelot, that thirsts for blood and curses the bearer to dwell in darkness. (The phrase "defending the light by diving into the dark" comes up more than once and is a really great way of pointing out how this works.) Added to the lore of the Ebony Blade is: the Ebony Shield (can block anything); the Ebony Dagger (which originally was the Ebony Staff, but was reforged as a weapon to fight against the Black Knight); and the Ebony Chalice (which gives knowledge you didn't know you wanted, but need).
Added to this story is a girl who goes by Jacks (or Professor Jacks) who is trying to study Dane and the Ebony Blade, and gets caught up in the all the chaos when Mordred (yes, that one from the Arthurian legends) comes to fight. Fighting and killing Dane (who gets resurrected over and over as part of the curse of being the Ebony Blade's bearer), Mordred forges the Ebony Crown from the Dagger, Shield and the Chalice. And after Jacks takes up the Blade and defeats him, the Crown is reforged to become the Ebony Siege, allowing both Dane and Jacks to serve as the Black Knight and share the burden.
Excited to see what will happen next for this character. With him being in more of the MCU, he's bound to reignite in the comics.
Recommend.

[Adam Rodgers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Likely published largely off the back of Dane Whitman's (the Black Knight) appearance in the latest Marvel blockbuster, The Eternals, the book has the task of not only relating the titular hero's backstory, and legacy, but create a new one to support a hopeful renewed interest in the character.

Simon Spurrier does a great job here, overall. He manages to reference some of Dane's history with the Avengers, combining it with the history of the Black Knight, from his Arthurian origin and the creation of the Ebony Blade. Spurrier capitalises on the twist that in order for the blade to provide power to the weilder, the user must fuel it with negative thoughts and deeds. An interesting paradox for a hero. He also supplies an interesting advesary for Whitman and brings in Elsa Bloodstone as an erstwhile ally for the Black Knight.

Without spoiling the story, this all adds up for a rich tale that is well paced and just about lands the slightly convulted ending. With excellent artwork provided by Sergio Davila, hopefully we will see more Black Knight adventures with this now established conflicted hero and his new status quo.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I was a bit disappointed by this. There was some interesting points and the plot was ok, so was the art. I bought it because I have always been a fan of fringe Marvel characters and I have fond memories of Dane Whitman's time with the Avengers many moons ago.

What let me down is that this one of those stories that introduces a legacy character. That means that the original hero has to go through some issues and self doubts. It also means that when the climax comes the legacy hero does a large slice of the actual action. I found this set up uninteresting the first time I read it. It is now a cliche. This comic at least doesn't completely sideline the main hero and we could see more of him in the near future

On top of that I have never found a legacy character I like more than the original - they are, I guess literally, less original.

[Ronan The Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had my hopes up with Si Spurrier heading this— and it’s not bad, but I left disappointed. Learning about the Black Knight and his despair-ridden, bloodthirsty sword is interesting, but this was too steeped in the convoluted murk of Arthurian lore (or at least Marvel’s version of it). The last couple of issues had a couple surprising reveals, and I think Spurrier was trying to do something with a mental health angle, but it wasn’t fleshed out and I couldn’t muster enough care by the end. I think there’s a vein to mine in the Black Knight character, but someone has to really care first.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t really familiar with Black Knight and it seemed like this miniseries was maybe just a hurried paycheck Spurrier picked up after his great Hellblazer series was cancelled, so I’d been hesitant to check it out, but it’s really good! It’s also thankfully standalone, offering natural context for any relevant character lore and adding a seemingly significant twist to the character going forward. Dane’s a fun mopey lead, and Elsa Bloodstone and Jacks are entertaining as his sidekicks. The art looks good in a pretty standard Marvel style, but Prianto’s coloring is especially great; it’s all dark blues and blacks and yellows and reds in a deeply saturated, slightly watercolored style.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what you get when you need to refresh a character that used to be SUPER COOL in the 90s, but now is bordering on irrelevant and dated. The 'King In Black' gave us a taste of how depressed Dane can get, and how that can fuel his abilites. This shows you just how jacked up the character has truly become. Points to Marvel for having a character with so much trauma...points taken away because he feels like the butt of some jokes.

The only way this could have gone worse would be if they shoved Dane into #metoo culture and let it burn.

[Erik J · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, I really did. I absolutely love Black Knight from WAY back in the day with his love triangle with Crystal & Sersi. He was cool, smart, and a long time member of the Avengers.

This story ... makes him out to be a joke. Plus the "twist" at the end of the story makes no sense. Based on other stories' implied ages of the characters ... this can't work. Plus it was a disappointing wrap up to the story.

Overall - 2/5 ... I can't rate it the 1/5 it deserves simply because of my fondness for Dane.