The Black Beetle (Dark Horse Comics)

From Hey Kids Comics

The Black Beetle
250x450px
The Black Beetle #1: No Way Out (Part 1)
Character information
First appearance Pulp Sunday (May 2009)
Created by Francesco Francavilla
Publication information
Publisher Dark Horse Comics
Schedule Semi-monthly
Formats Ongoing series of miniseries
Genre Superhero comics
Publication date December 2012 – Present
Creative team
Writer(s) Francesco Francavilla
Artist(s) Francesco Francavilla
Creator(s) Francesco Francavilla
Editor(s) Jim Gibbons

The Black Beetle is a comic book series created by Francesco Francavilla and published by Dark Horse Comics about the titular masked vigilante.

Publishing History[edit | edit source]

Pulp Sunday[edit | edit source]

File:Black Beetle 12-4-2006.jpg
The first drawing of The Black Beetle

The Black Beetle made its first appearance on the forum drawingboard.org on the twelfth of January, 2006, as ten minute doodle.[1] In 2009, Francesco Francavilla held a poll on his blog, Pulp Sunday. He had decided to do a webcomic and asked readers whether they would rather Max Malone or The Black Beetle, described as "in the vein of masked vigilante pulp in some sort of '40s/'50s settings, with some slight (40s/50s) sci-fi tone to it".[2] More than two-thirds of the readers voted for The Black Beetle. Shortly after, he came up with the setting of Colt City, his own mix between New York City and Gotham City.[3]

No Way Out[edit | edit source]

On Sunday, May 17, 2009, The Black Beetle made its debut as the opening page of No Way Out (although at the time this title had not yet been announced).[4] This first appearance ran for a total of ten pages, appearing on most Sundays until August 2, when it ended with The Black Beetle falling from a rooftop.[5] These ten pages were billed as the first part of six. The pages were printed in The Black Beetle ashcan, which was first sold at HeroesCon 2009.[6]

Kara Böcek[edit | edit source]

In December 2009 Francesco Francavilla attempted to tell a shorter Black Beetle story, a one-shot, roughly 20 pages, between his paid publishing work. This story was released in a landscape format. The plan was to update as frequently as possible, sometimes twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays.[7][8] Upon reaching the tenth page, Francavilla stated the comic was one-third finished.[9] Page 11, which was supposed to be the first page of the middle third of the story, was the last completed page.[10]

The Kara Böcek was mentioned in the Dark Horse printing of The Black Beetle #1: No Way Out (Part 1),[11] and Francavilla said he intends to return to the story some day in the letters column of The Black Beetle #0: Night Shift.[12]

Dark Horse Comics[edit | edit source]

In December 2011 Dark Horse announced The Black Beetle's debut in the pages of Dark Horse Presents. The story, Night Shift, was told in three eight-page parts in issues #11-13 (April–June, 2012).[13] The story was later republished as The Black Beetle #0 in December 2012.[14]

At a Dark Horse convention panel in July 2012, Francavilla announced that The Black Beetle had been picked up for its first miniseries, No Way Out, the story originally started on his Pulp Sunday blog. The series began its run in January, 2013.[15] The first ten pages were from the original version of the story on Pulp Sunday, but recoloured and with altered text and art.

In 2013, at the Emerald City Comicon, it was announced that The Black Beetle would continue at Dark Horse as an ongoing monthly series.[16] This was later corrected by editor Jim Gibbons, who said the series was going to be "semi-monthly".[17] Francavilla has further clarified, it will be an ongoing series of miniseries.[18]

Dark Horse Books[edit | edit source]

Issues[edit | edit source]

Issue Title Date of Publication Story Art Colors Cover Collection Notes
#0 Night Shift 19 December 2012 Francesco Francavilla The Black Beetle - Volume 1: No Way Out [19]
#1 No Way Out 16 January 2013
13 March 2013 (2nd printing)
This issue has three different covers.
1st print,[20] 2nd print,[21] and an exclusive for ComicsPRO.[22]
#2 20 February 2013 [23]
#3 17 April 2013 Originally scheduled for 20 March.[24][25]
#4 12 June 2013 Originally scheduled for 17 April.[26][27]
#5 Necrologue 27 November 2013 Francesco Francavilla Originally scheduled for 23 October 2013.[28][29]
#6 18 December 2013 With back-up feature: "Little Black Beetle"[30]
Originally scheduled for 27 November 2013.[31]
#7 29 January 2014 With back-up feature: "Little Black Beetle"
Originally scheduled for 18 December 2013.[32]
#8
#9

Collections[edit | edit source]

Night Shift and No Way Out will be collected in the first Black Beetle hardcover volume which will be released in October, 2013.[33]

Volume Title Date of Publication Collects ISBN Notes
1 No Way Out 16 October 2013
  • Night Shift
  • No Way Out #1-4
978-1-61655-202-2 Originally Scheduled for 27 August 2013[34]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Francavilla, Francesco. "Drawingboard.org". Retrieved 13 April 2013. 
  2. Francavilla, Francesco. "Black Beetle vs Max Malone". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  3. Francavilla, Francesco. "Greetings from Colt City". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  4. Francavilla, Francesco. "Black Beetle: Lost Wars". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  5. Francavilla, Francesco. "Black Beetle: Tump!". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  6. Francavilla, Francesco. "Black Beetle: "No Way Out" Ashcan". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  7. Francavilla, Francesco. "Kara Böcek page 1". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  8. Francavilla, Francesco. "Kara Böcek page 5". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  9. Francavilla, Francesco. "Kara Böcek page 10". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  10. Francavilla, Francesco. "Kara Böcek page 11". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  11. Francavilla, Francesco (January, 2013). The Black Beetle #1: No Way Out (Part 1). Dark Horse Comics.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. Francavilla, Francesco (December, 2012). The Black Beetle #0: Night Shift. Dark Horse Comics.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. "Francesco Francavilla Unleashes The Black Beetle!". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  14. "The Black Beetle: Night Shift #0". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  15. Francavilla, Francesco. "EISNERs, The Black Beetle, and Creature From The Black Lagoon!". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  16. Khouri, Andy. "Dark Horse Superheroes: New Ongoings, Pulp Revivals and DC Refugees". Comics Alliance. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  17. Gibbons, Jim. "semi-monthly". Twitter. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  18. Francavilla, Francesco. "9 April - Twitter post". Retrieved 12 April 2013. 
  19. "The Black Beetle #0: Night Shift". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  20. "The Black Beetle #1: No Way Out". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  21. "The Black Beetle #1: No Way Out (2nd printing)". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  22. Francavilla, Francesco. "The Black Beetle Goes ComicsPRO!". Pulp Sunday. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  23. "The Black Beetle #2: No Way Out". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  24. "Dark Horse Solicitations March 2013". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 14 March 2013. 
  25. "The Black Beetle #3: No Way Out". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  26. "Dark Horse Solicitations April 2013". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 5 April 2013. 
  27. "The Black Beetle #4: No Way Out". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 
  28. Glendening, Daniel. "SDCC EXCLUSIVE: Bodies Fall in Francvilla's "Black Beetle: Necrologue"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 18 July, 2013.  Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  29. "The Black Beetle #1: Necrologue". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 30 July 2013. 
  30. "Dark Horse Comics Solicitations For November, 2013". Comic Book Reasources. Retrieved 17 August, 2013.  Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  31. "The Black Beetle #2: Necrologue". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 17 August 2013. 
  32. "The Black Beetle: Necrologue #3". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 29 September 2013. 
  33. Khouri, Andy. "Dark Horse Superheroes: New Ongoings, Pulp Revivals and DC Refugees". Comics Alliance. Retrieved 4 March 2013. 
  34. "The Black Beetle - Volume 1: No Way Out HC". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 

External links[edit | edit source]