Black Market Series

Everything’s looking up for Ray—he’s off the hook for the murder of Hotspot, the crooked cops aiming to blackmail him have been framed and incarcerated, and he finally has enough money to afford treatment for his wife’s M.S. diagnosis. So why do all of those problems pale in comparison to the “favor” that he now owes Biochem: kidnapping the world’s strongest hero, Ultra?

The worst thing you can do in the black market business is get sloppy, and Ray has found himself at the beck and call of two very crooked cops.With the BioChem noose tightening and the crew forced to nab a Gamma-level Super or face termination, has Ray reached the end of his rope?

Under Denny’s coercion, Ray has successfully procured and sold his first batch of Super DNA on the black market. The scary part? He’s a natural, so much so that he and Denny need to expand their operation by bringing in some added muscle—a former hero with an axe to grind against the Supers who forced him out of the life.

WHY BOOM! LOVES IT: Here at BOOM!, we’ve never shied away from exploring the dark crevices of the superhero genre that other publishers can’t. From Mark Waid’s IRREDEEMABLE to Mike Carey’s SUICIDE RISK, we love finding new ways to push the boundaries of our medium’s favorite genre.WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: BLACK MARKET mixes the visceral noir/pulp sensibilities of Frank J. Barbiere’s FIVE GHOSTS and Victor Santos’ FILTHY RICH with a truly modern take on superhero mythos. If you love Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ work on Sleeper like we do, this series is for you.WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Ray Willis is a broken man, a disgraced medical examiner making ends meet by preparing corpses at a funeral parlor. His scientific genius is being wasted…that is, until his estranged criminal brother Denny shows up on his doorstep, supposedly cleaned-up and proposing a once-in-a-lifetime partnership to cure not just cancer, but all disease. The catch? It exists within the DNA of superheroes.