DC’s Black Adam has had enough of Batman, and the feeling is mutual. There’s an uprising in Black Adam’s homeland, the politically tenuous land of Khandaq, as the people fight for democracy. Bruce Wayne sides with the rebellion and endorses the uprising, both morally and fiscally. Black Adam is not impressed — and he’s ready to let everyone, especially the Justice League, know exactly what he thinks.
Written by Christopher Priest, with pencils by Eddy Barrows, inks by Eber Ferreira, colors by Matt Herms, and letters by Willie Schubert and Dave Sharpe, Black Adam #6 pits the Thunder of Aton against the Dark Knight in a battle of strength, wits, and morals — just before the Dark Crisis of Infinite Earths.
The majority of Black Adam #6 is dedicated to the no-holds-barred battle between the theocratic Black Adam and an unusually violent and vengeful Batman. Despite the political subtext introduced in the first pages, Black Adam #6 doesn’t dwell on the rebellion in Khandaq or each hero’s chosen side. Black Adam #6 is a psychological study. Black Adam and Batman are on opposite sides of the war in Khandaq, but Priest uses their dialogue to highlight the similarities between the Thunder of Aton and the World’s Greatest Detective.
After five consecutive issues of steadily increasing conflict, Black Adam #6 brings the story to almost a screeching halt. Considering the incredible amount of dialogue in this issue, the writing suffers from too much telling and not enough showing. Considering the twist behind this scenario, this seems a deliberate choice on Priest’s part. The dialogue-heavy writing style works well for the psychological study, but the tension wears off quickly, making the verbal sparring between these two juggernauts feel slow and anticlimactic.
Black Adam #6 creates striking parallels between Black Adam and Batman with the art as well as the writing. Much of the reason the dialogue between these two characters in this issue works as well as it does is because of penciler Eddy Barrows’s layouts. He uses extreme, almost cinematic angles, with some panels shot from a character’s point of view. The split panels, where Black Adam and Batman are literally split and put side by side to highlight their physical similarities, are particularly striking. If Priest’s writing implies that Batman and Black Adam are dark reflections of one another, Barrows’s art confirms it.
Inker Eber Ferreira’s work is just as impressive. With so many pages full of crowded backgrounds, empty spaces, and perpetual darkness, Black Adam #6 feels alive with texture, tactility, and detail. Ferreira uses a light pen to create shading on the characters’ bodies, with whispy lines contrasting with his stark black placement. Especially impressive are the rainy back-alley scenes, with the way he renders the raindrops in the sky, the decay on the ground, and the characters themselves.
Black Adam #6 is full of conflict, but the issue sputters and stalls at times. However, it is an important look at two heroes with very similar backgrounds of misfortune and injustice. With its strong visual language and coherent — if excessive — writing, Black Adam #6 is a harsh, necessary look at a morally dubious anti-hero.