Staff Picks (May): The Blacklist #1

A lot of popular television shows have found their way to the comics medium in recent years, fueling the, already loyal, fan base. This summer, popular NBC show The Blacklist finds its second audience among the comic readers, and it looks like it’s going to be a worthwhile read for the TV fans and the newly initiated alike.

Raymond Reddington is one of the most dangerous men in the world and at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list, until the day he turned himself in and told the FBI he had an interesting list of his own. His “blacklist” contains the names of the world’s most dangerous and destructive criminals, operatives, and spies working around the world and only Reddington knows how to find them. Reddington is smart and calculating, rarely offering information unless there’s something in it for him and his own secret agenda. The FBI concedes to work with Reddington in order to capture these “Blacklisters” but the real question is: what is Reddington getting out of the deal? The comic begins with their first target, “The Lobbyist,” a “Blacklister” who has framed the FBI for murdering a political activist in public. With Reddington’s help, the FBI needs to find out who really planned the murder and who benefits from the FBI being blamed for it?

Since the showed first aired in 2013, The Blacklist has been a big hit due to its intelligent writing and intriguing lead character, Raymond Reddington, played by James Spader. A show as good as this begs to be expanded into other media and the “further adventures” of Reddington, written by the show’s script coordinator, Nicole Phillips, is a recipe for a good read.

—Jay Spence

Publisher: Titan Comics Item Code: MAY151530 Release Date: 07/22/15 SRP: $3.99