The Black Diamond #1 is the opening few minutes of a summer movie or of an action TV show. We meet the main character, Dr. Don McLauglin D.D.S. Rushing into his office, we also meet his two assistants during a friendly wager comparing their knowledge of minutia, only to be topped by Don as he enters. One of them tells Don that his wife Kate, who’s in Washington D.C. for a conference, called three times this morning. Attempting to call her back, all he gets is her voice mail. Through his first patient of the day, we learn about Don, his desire for order and the Black Diamond, the wild and untamed super-elevated highway built by Don’s father-in-law, that the U.S. army is now trying to clean up and restore order to.
In those first few pages, Larry Young and Jon Proctor set up everything you need to know about Don and the world he lives in. Around year and a half ago, you may have read The Black Diamond: On Ramp, a teaser introduction to this series. If you missed it, don’t worry. The series really begins here and establishes everything that’s needed for the series. After Young and Proctor set up Don’s world in the first half of the issue, they begin to shatter it.
As Don wraps up with his patient, one of his assistants informs him that there’s a cop waiting to see him. In what may be the best line of the year, Don mumbles “I’m up to date…” indicating that he pays for “protection” of his establishment. Instead of his neighborhood officer looking for a handout, it’s Kate’s brother R.J. R.J. doesn’t seem like the best cop or even brother-in-law around but the news he brings isn’t good; Kate has been kidnapped in Baltimore and the authorities don’t seem interested in doing anything. R.J. gives Don the keys to his 1973 Mercury Cougar, “one of those twenty-one thousand and sixty nine good Detroit two-doors. And the 351 V-8, stock, of course. All original.” Don needs to race to Baltimore to rescue Kate.
I’ve really described the whole issue here (I hope Larry and Jon don’t mind) but it shouldn’t be a problem. If this were a movie, this issue ends at the point where you grab your popcorn and coke, get comfy in your chair and wait for the rock’n’roll soundtrack to kick in. This issue is the set-up. Though great, quick and catchy dialogue, Young pulls you into the story. The dialogue is witty and smart and does a nice job of distracting you from the dangers of the world in The Black Diamond.
Just don’t really question the story at this point. Don jumps into the car and takes off a little too easily. Maybe it’s shock but he seems to readily accept R.J.’s information but he needs to. This kind of story doesn’t allow for characters to act 100% logical and real at all times. In any good car story, you need to get the character into the car as quick as possible and that’s what Young has done– gotten Don into the car and speeding onto an on-ramp of the Black Diamond.
Jon Proctor’s artwork adds a grounded unrealness to the story. I’m reminded of the rotoscoping animation used in those investement commercials or in Richard Linklater’s The Waking Life and The Scanner Darkly. Proctor fills in just enough information on the page to let you know what’s going on without over doing it And the coloring (it’s uncredited as far as I can tell so I assume it’s done by Proctor) is bright and colorful. What Young found in Proctor is an artist who can draw the real world around him. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen cars that look better than they do in this book. The final two page spread, seeing the rear of the Cougar driving off, next to a train track with a train racing in the opposite direction toward the reader, against the backdrop of a slightly futuristic San Francisco, leaves you wanting to see much more of this story. If this is what San Francisco looks like, I wonder what the rest of the country will look like.
A short backup story by Dennis Culver shows humorously life on the Black Diamond as a couple of low-rent thugs need the help of Jet Swanson A.S.E. to assist them out of a jam. It’s a fun diversion from the main story, showing the wide potential for stories that Young and other artists could get out of The Black Diamond.
The Black Diamond #1
“Shake Hands with Danger”
Written by: Larry Young
Drawn by: Jon Proctor
[tags]The Black Diamond, AIT-Planetlar, Larry Young, Jon Proctor[/tags]