Black Summer

Black Summer
Publication information
Publisher	Avatar Press
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Publication date	June, 2007
No. of issues	8
Creative team
Written by	Warren Ellis
Artist(s)	Juan Jose Ryp

Black Summer is a comic book mini-series written by Warren Ellis, illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, and published by Avatar Press starting in June, 2007.

The plot revolves around the consequences of a superhero, John Horus, who kills the President of the United States and several of his advisers. This occurs in issue #0 (which, unusually for Avatar, is not a preview, but an introduction to the series, half the length of a normal issue). The seven issue series which follows details the aftermath of the assassination.

Plot synopsis

The miniseries alternates between flashbacks detailing the origin of a superhero team called The Seven Guns, and the present day, where one of their members kills the President of the United States. The Seven Guns are "an association of politically-aware young scientist-inventors" (according to creator Warren Ellis), who create their own superhuman enhancements through extreme body modification experiments supervised by Tom Noir and Frank Blacksmith. Noir is the brains of the team, but by far the most powerful member is John Horus, whose enhancements make him, for all intents and purposes, invincible. Their first public mission was to free an unspecified West Coast city from a corrupt police force and the criminal city government which backed it. Over time, they have gained the public trust. Tom began an affair with "Laura Torch", one of his teammates.

At some point, as yet unknown, Frank Blacksmith faked his own death in order to start working for the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA decided that The Seven Guns were dangerous, especially Tom Noir, and arranged to kill him in a car bomb. Due to an error, the bomb killed Laura, but Tom was only wounded. Having lost his leg, he retired from superheroics and began a life of drinking and chain-smoking. Meanwhile, the CIA continued to experiment with human enhancement, creating their own super soldiers which they claim were more advanced than The Seven Guns (other than Horus, whose invincibility was a fluke).

Issue 0

In the first published issue (#0), Tom Noir's solitude is shattered when John Horus assassinates the President of the United States. John goes on Television and claims that he did this because he had come to believe that the president's actions were criminal. The litany of charges he describes against the unnamed president are comparable to those which would be cited by extreme critics of current US president George W. Bush, including electoral fraud and leading the United States into an unnecessary war in Iraq to further the interests of oil conglomerates. (The series has not, as of yet, specified whether any of these accusations is true, as this would be beside the stated purpose of the series.) He says that he did this to save the country from what he believed were criminals, criminals whom only he could stop.

Issue 1

As soon as this happens, martial law breaks out across the country. Frank Blacksmith comes out of hiding to try and kill The Seven Guns, beginning with Tom Noir. This first attempt is unsuccessful, and brings Noir out of retirement.

Issue 2

The remaining members of the team - besides Horus - gather and attempt to figure out what to do in order to stay alive, now that the government is after them. Despite mutual attempts to distance themselves from Horus and his actions, the people of the country are now against the Seven Guns.

Characters

The Seven Guns

The Seven Guns are posthumans. Their abilities are somewhat vague, but they seem to have access to a private wireless communication spectrum and network, and an enhanced nervous system. They also each possess a weapon known as a gun, with additional capabilities. Differentiating between built-in "super-powers" and abilities derived from using the gun are difficult. They describe themselves as The Extralegal Civic Defense Team.

Frank Blacksmith Mentor to the Seven Guns and co-designer of the gun technology that the group utilized in their crime-fighting. Tom Noir witnessed Frank's apparent death at the hands of crooked cops years earlier. However, John Horus' actions have brought Frank, who faked his own death, out of hiding. Since faking his death, he's been working for the government, where he has continued to develop gun technology. It's been revealed that he was behind the bomb that killed Laura Tarrant and that the bomb was meant for Tom. In light of Horus' actions, he has been authorized to terminate the remaining members of the Seven Guns.

Kathryn Artemis Turns into a kind of 'super-motorcyclist'. Keyword, Miyamoto.

John Horus The most beloved and well known member of the Seven Guns, Horus is also easily the most powerful. Until he killed the president and everyone in the Oval Office, he was the most publicly trusted member of the team, and was often seen at the White House as an adviser to the President. Horus' "gun" is a swarm of eye-like devices which make him virtually invincible. They apparently allow flight, possibly produce a force field, and allow energy projection. Dresses in white, clothes resemble an officer's outfit from the US Civil War, but with Masonic symbols, or Eye of Ra sigils.

Dominic Atlas Hyde Can become covered in black armor and acquire super strength. Keyword, Herakles.

Zoe Jump Uses the Millis Bias Field to distort physical laws, giving her superspeed. She devised a complex equation, which, when projected onto her eyes through special goggles, allows her to activate a localized Bias Field which enables her to move at incredible speeds.

Tom Noir Considered the "brains" of the Seven Guns, Tom Noir theorized the gun technology that would later empower the group. He later worked closely with Frank Blacksmith to develop the guns. More than a year ago, Tom lost part of his left leg below the knee in the explosion that killed Laura Tarrant. After her death, Tom quit the group and became an alcoholic shut-in, living out of a squalid apartment and generally drinking himself to death. Despite this, he was targeted first for termination after Horus' execution of the President. It is believed by the government that his genius level intellect, which created the gun technology now being employed in government agents, makes him as, if not more dangerous than John Horus. Tom's gun enhancements include a "supercortex", and very precise ultrasound imaging technology. He is able to see directly into any target with surgical precision through outer layers of clothing, weapons, devices, internal organs, bones. This vision also allows him to find vital points and weaknesses. His gun is a super-pistol named Inquiry, with surgical tungsten penetrator rounds. Tom also covers his right arm in some kind of techno-organic looking armor while fighting Vince, the government assassin sent to kill him. His gun enhancement is activated via the code word Bakerstreet.

Angel One Angel One can levitate by superconductor based magnetic levitation. Real name Angela. Keyword, Daedalus.

Laura Torch Real name was Laura Tarrant, she is supposedly deceased. Laura is the former girlfriend of Tom Noir. She was killed in the same explosion that took Tom's leg.

References

• Black Summer at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

• Official site
• Silver Bullet Comics Review of issue #1
• Silver Bullet Comics Review of issue #2