Black Summer: Difference between revisions

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.^[1] The following seven issues detail the aftermath of the assassination.^[2]

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).

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 an "extralegal civic defense team," united against the private security firms and organized criminals dominating their city.

In the present day of the series, relations between the various team members are strained, as it appears that though there were shared interests in futurism and body modification amongst the Guns, they did not actually like each other all that much, and had widely divergent political beliefs.

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 critics of current US president George W. Bush, including: electoral fraud; violating the Geneva Conventions with an recently admitted planned course for torture; the use of retired generals, who were in the employ of defense contractors, by the Pentagon to further convince the American public of the false reasons for war with Iraq; prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks; 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.

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.

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 government is firmly against all of the Guns. A situation exacerbated by certain Guns due to actions they take in what may or may not be considered self-defense.

The impending attack by the US military on the Seven Guns' base is revealed to be taking place at a different location, the Guns' previous base abandoned prior to the books beginning. Tom Noir is fitted with a prosthetic limb by Dominic, to replace the leg lost in the explosion that killed his girlfriend, Laura Torch. Dominic inquires as to the location of Laura's gun, commenting "that thing even scared me." Tom states that it is somewhere safe, and when asked about his capabilities, claims that his augmentations uses are limited, and is left alone to ponder recent events.

Tom stumbles upon his old costume, heavily reminiscent of both John Horus' (only rendered in black) and the Midnighter's (from Ellis' previous work "The Authority"). After donning said costume, Tom contradicts his previous statement by running a diagnostic, revealing his systems capabilities to be 99.3% operational.

He performs several actions, such as blocking John Horus from the Seven Guns database, and renders a 3D map of his location, revealing him to be in an underground base. Tom locates the nearest military activity and "breaks" the lock on the entrance to the base. He faces down the tank, stating that he surrenders. Dominic notices Tom is no longer inside, and -- realising the danger he is in -- sends Zoe Jump to rescue him.

The tank fires, seemingly obliterating Tom before Zoe could reach him. The rest of the Guns emerge, and upon realising Tom's fate, Dominic Hyde goes into a rage, destroying the tank and throwing it at approaching helicopters. Dominic laments Toms death, and the remaining guns stand together, with Dominic stating that they will kill as many of the "little people" as they have to, and then they're going to "kill John."

NOTE:- Readouts from Tom Noir suggest that he is in control of the tank prior to it firing upon him, suggesting that he may not be as dead as his complete lack of corpse suggests.

Before her enhancements, Kathryn was a world-class athlete and marksman. She customized her enhancements were by incorporating her motorcycle into the transformation, becoming an armored motorcyclist. Unlike the other members, her background was in history rather than science, and she felt no qualms about killing criminals. Her keyword, Miyamoto, is the Japanese surname of Miyamoto Musashi, a historical swordsman.

The most well known and publicly active 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 a guest of 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 and projectile functions. He dresses in white clothes that resemble an officer's outfit from the US Civil War, but with Masonic symbols, or Eye of Ra sigils. He also carries on an Ellis trademark, a reluctant hero who wears all white (see Jenny Sparx and Elijah Snow). Keyword unknown.

Can surround himself in black body armor and acquire super strength. Has various implants allowing electronic communications and basic wireless computer interface, though these may be common to all of the Seven Guns. Keyword, Herakles.

Uses the Millis Bias Field to distort physical laws, giving her superspeed. Theorizing that if one could mentally encompass, in one instant, the many complex mathematical equations describing such a Field, she would be able to actually bring such a Field into existence and project it around herself, Zoe Jump underwent eye implants that allow the projection of the necessary equations onto her visual field. She is also somewhat able to extend the field around herself, so that a person running in tandem with her can be allowed to obtain the same speed.

Real Name: Tom Watson. Considered the "brains" of the Seven Guns, Tom Noir helped theorize the Gun technology that would empower the group. He 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 government agencies 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. As a result, they attempt to remove him from the playing field before he can become involved.

Tom's Gun enhancements include a "supercortex" that allows him to tap into and process all available information streams, including decryption when necessary, 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. Keyword: Bakerstreet.

Angel One can levitate and 'fly' by superconductor based magnetic levitation using systems surgically implanted in her legs, and possibly other parts of her torso. The effect works better in highly metallic environments, so better in urban areas than rural or wilderness. Real name Angela. Keyword, Daedalus.

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. Her "gun" is still unknown but is briefly mentioned in issue 3 by Dominic, who claims that the gun scared even him. Keyword unknown.

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.

• Official website
• Review of issue 0, 0, 1, 2 and 3, 4, 5 and 6, Comics Bulletin