Title: The Black Lamb by Timothy Truman, with Sam Parsons
Helix, Nov 96, #1 of 6
At a time when Michael Mann’s Heat was just leaving the box office, DC Comics produced Helix, an attempt at establishing a place for science fiction concepts and heroes. One of these titles was Transmetropolitan. But everyone knows about that one, so I give you The Black Lamb.
The story is of course, futuristic, where we are told in a prologue that vampires exist, and that religious folk have long been trying to change that. It’s apparent that this flashback is going to tie into our hero’s story, one Diarmaid Na Duibee, also known as the Black Lamb.
The Black Lamb lives in a city populated by weirdos in trench coats, most of them having some sort of cybernetic enhancement, like a low-rent version of Shadowrun. There is also lots of graffiti. We’re introduced to a group of thugs, who brag about their murderous exploits for a couple of pages. They’re interrupted by a future hippie, who taunts them about him, who is watching them. This sets up the legend of the Black Lamb, as they try to deny his existence. Of course they are soon bleeding out in the following panels.
If you’re familiar with Timothy Truman’s work, then you might know what to expect. An ugly hero, uglier villains, and a desolate setting. And I mean that in a good way. Truman’s writing is usually reliable, and although some of the slang terms of “the future” are kind of silly, the story is captivating enough.
With some writer/artists, you can see the wear and tear in an issue as it progresses. Darrick Robertson’s work on The Boys, for instance. The first half of a story arc is made with love and care, but you can see the deadlines creeping in as the story progresses, where the final issue looks a bit messy, less polished than the first. What’s odd about Truman’s Black Lamb is that it goes the opposite direction, at least the first issue. It's as if Truman didn't gain interest in the concept until mid-way.
The first half of the book would probably look better in a western setting, being a bit dusty and sketchy. Sam Parson’s coloring doesn’t do much to help with this, everything looking a bit faded. It’s serviceable, but not Truman’s best.
But then the Black Lamb takes the thug leader into custody, using his (surprise!) bat wings to fly him past the moon, ala ET. The following page we get lovely Truman goodness, at his best.
Truman has always excelled at the weird, and—spoilers—we learn that there’s an entire monster society our hero belongs to, with a working legal system! The thug leader is bound, with a werewolf prosecutor making a case for the criminal's death. In a clever bit, the thug leader’s lawyer is a fairy, whose defense can barely be heard above the mob of creatures in attendance. You can probably guess that she doesn’t do him any favors. Once he is pronounced guilty, the judge (a mummy) gives the werewolf permission to “eat the defense.”
There’s a bit more foreshadowing after this about the Black Lamb’s origin, but the most interesting part of the issue is definitely the monster court scene, which got me thinking: why hasn’t Truman been given a chance to do a book with Marvel’s Legion of Monsters? Of course Tony Moore had a recent run with Rick Reminder on the Frankencastle storyline--which he knocked out of the park--and that would be hard to live up to, although I think if anyone could, it’d be Truman.
The Black Lamb was probably finished long before DC pulled the plug on Helix, and Truman went on to other things. If I’m correct, he’s spent the last few years working on the Conan titles, which is a good fit, and something I’ve yet to dip into. His work was most recently featured in Jason Aaron’s Scalped, which is fantastic, knowing his history on Scout.
The Black Lamb #1 wasn’t the greatest first issue in the world, but the latter half of the book has enough interesting and funny ideas to make it worth picking up. Next time you’re thumbing through that dirty box that says “fifty-cents,” keep an eye out for the Black Lamb and his monster buddies. Maybe you can fill me in on how it ends.
