Black Knight

One of the things I've always liked about Roy Thomas' writing is that, while rarely spectacular, it always shows a keen sense of a character's history and background. His take on the Black Knight in a 1990 limited series is a good example, as Thomas draws from sources as far back as a two-issue Black Knight series that Atlas Comics (as Marvel was called at the time) published in the 1950s. That earlier series featured the Camelot-era ancestor of the current Black Knight, Dane Whitman, a frequent member of the Avengers. Whitman is an interesting mix of Middle Ages chivalry (he wears a suit of armor, carries a sword, and rides a winged horse) and the modern (he's an expert in hi-tech devices). The 1990 Black Knight limited series is a decent solo outing for the "Ebon Avenger", as he foils a plot by Mordred and Morgan Le Fey to . . . dare I say it? . . . TAKE OVER THE WORLD! Ahem. Anyway, Dr. Strange, Captain Britain, and Victoria Bentley guest star, and the series also features the introduction of the Black Knight's squire, Sean Dolan. It's straight-up super-heroics, except with more demons and fewer super-villains.

Half a decade later, the Black Knight's middling popularity earned him a one-shot titled Black Knight: Exodus. The twist here is that Dane Whitman and his fellow Avenger Sersi are somehow knocked back in time to witness the origin of the super-villain Exodus at the hands of the even more super-villainous Apocalypse. Thus, we have an odd-mix of Avengers and X-Men villains in a story that's not really all that interesting. On the plus side, a Marvel comic book in the 1990s that didn't feature either Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Punisher, or Spider-Man is a rare, collector's item classic.