I've recently decided to take a break from the superhero genre and read some more dark and gritty books, and thanks to a google search found this gem. I'm only 5 issues in to the 11 book run and I love it. The Black Hood hits dark and gritty perfectly, its a noir-style crime fiction comic book.
Greg Hettinger (great name for a hero), is a devoted Philadelphia police officer until he responds to a random crime scene ending with a shotgun blast to the face. His long road to recovery is further hampered by Greg’s loss of self-esteem leading to a pain killer addiction. Gone are his good looks and confidence in his profession. Greg must find a way to satisfy the one principle that remains intact – his desire for justice.
Swiercznski’s narrative is exceptionally dark and violent. The story, brought to life with the art provided by Michael Gaydos make the cinematic elements of the work really shine. There is clever use of sepia-toned images to denote flashback sequences.
Over the years, there have been a number of iterations of the superhero vigilante The Black Hood, who was introduced during the Golden Age of comics your basic costumed crime fighter. But writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Michael Gaydos takes the Hood and grounds him in tough ultra-realism (as real as non-super powered hero comics get), using the story to touch on violence, addiction, depression and crime in his native home of Philadelphia.
I'm not going to get into the story here just incase there are those like me who haven't read it yet, but if you are looking for a drab, Uber-violent crime story be sure to give this a read.