REVIEW: 'Black Tape' #3 by Dan Panosian, Dalibor Talajic, and Ive Svorcina

 

BLACK TAPE #3 

Writer: Dan Panosian

Artist: Dalibor Talajic, Ive Svorcina

Letters: Steve Wands

Publisher: AWA

Release Date: April 19, 2023

Cover Price: $3.99

FOR MATURE READERS

Jack King was a rock'n'roll god who projected a stage persona on par with the devil. After Jack dies on stage, his widow, Cindy, grapples with grief and struggles to protect his legacy, unaware that she is being surrounded by dark forces that covet the master tapes to Jack's final, unreleased album - a heavy metal masterpiece that just might open a doorway to hell.

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

QUICK REVIEW: We've been waiting for the more supernatural aspects of the story to start appearing and while we get some of it in how the lines between reality and dreams become blurred the sobering truth about Jack is as astonishing as anything could be. Cindy is obsessed with finding the black tape and in the process found evidence of Jack's secret lifestyle and his family's before she knew him. Cindy's paranoia reaches a fever pitch. Panosian's slow story development up to this point starts to pick up speed as Cindy is continually haunted and pursued. The tension is cranked up with Cindy in possible danger yet she's determined to find the tape and destroy it. Dalibor Talajic and Ive Svorcina create a suffocating atmosphere enveloped by darkness and fear. The nudity and sexual situations are up front and center. They're as tastefully done as possible but the evidence of multiple parties and orgies amid satanic iconography is unmistakable. The creative team enters a new gear of suspense and dread going into the finale. Sexually charged, haunting, and spiraling into chaos, 'Black Tape' is poised to end with a bang.