Sins of the Black Flamingo #1
Written by Andrew Wheeler
Drawn by Travis Moore
Colored by Tamra Bonvillain
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
Published by Image

The Skinny: A sun-drenched, cynical heist story about a mystical gentleman thief.

The Black Flamingo is a gentleman thief, although they would follow up the description with a clarification that they are non-binary and all property is theft. A fabulous melange of Arsène Lupin, Harry Dresden, and Dorian Gray, they recover rare and unusual artifacts from people worse than themself, and looks great doing it.
During a mission retrieving a Jewish relic from a secret Nazi shrine underneath a private museum, they uncover designs for a magical object of great power, setting off a series of events that will lead the cynical thief on an adventure that will test all of their skills and break all their rules.
Sins of the Black Flamingo #1 is a great start to this cynical urban fantasy series from Image. We get a great introduction to the main character, and a vivid setting in Wheeler and Moore’s depiction of Florida, including a bizarre full-page sequence that includes, among other things, a stolen urinal and a wedding ceremony with a gator.
Moore’s art with Bonvillain’s colors are delightful. They nail the sun-drenched horror and strange imagery, but also render the quiet tenderness of a sort of reunion scene that I won’t spoil here, but feels like the centerpiece of the issue. This is a dark and cynical book, but I think that perspective will be shattered, or at least greatly challenged, but the last issue of the miniseries. Maybe this world isn’t so bleak as the Flamingo believes, and the ultimate choice they will have to make. Is it enough simply to keep the worst from happening, or is the Black Flamingo obligated to do more?
Sins of the Black Flamingo #1 is now available in print from your local comics shop, or digitally wherever you buy comics. It’s the start of an intriguing, no-holds-barred sort of indie book  and I highly recommend it.