Black Terror #9 - Dynamite Entertainment

I thought this was an interesting issue. It was kind of a retrospect into the soul of the Black Terror, Bob Benton. He'd recently stopped a bank robbery. He took down 3 gunmen, and saved 15 people, but . . in the process, one bullet was fired. It bounced off Bob's chest a struck down a 20 year old student. Bob feels very guilty about this. And when he goes to the cemetery to pay his respect for the lost soul, Mystico, one of his former allies, appears in the form of the girl to torment him. Well . . not so much torment him as convince him to cross over into the realm of death. It seems that somewhere along the line, the Mad Magi had captured Mystico's physical heart and he was now stuck in the form of a 4000 year old mummy. Which is what he actually is, but . . before he could at least pass himself off as human. Anyways, the Magi is holding Mystico's heart in return for his mind job on the Black Terror. However, the Black Terror figures out the deception and helps Mystico get his heart back. The Magi disappears, but now he's even more mad at him. And in order for Mystico to gain peace and rest, Bob has to relieve him of his burden . . the ring that was given to him 4000 years ago by the priest before him . . the priest of Ra. Bob accepts the ring and in return is granted his hearts desire. It turns out to be the magical flying pirate vessel, the Black Terror. He will now truly be the pirate that he's always seen himself as. I thought this was a very touching story. I liked the way that Phil Hester got into the soul of the Black Terror. He really showed us his human side. Also, Jonathan Lau's pencils were awesome. But this was his last issue. Next issue Wagner Reiss takes over on the pencils. Hopefully he puts as much feeling into them as Jonathan did.