It is a thrilling story, an engaging heroine, and great art. I'm really looking forward to volume two! A very good book.

Received via NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

This book follows Bessie Coleman, a real life aviator from the 1920s who I believe was the first African-American woman to fly planes publically within the US.

It does state at the beginning that while it is based off of real people, that the book is one of fiction. A huge Trigger Warning for there being KKK members and their actions being quite a big part of this volume, there is also the term 'colored' to describe black people by a few white minor characters.

The beginning of this volume was quite boring and only started picking up at around the 30 page mark. I feel like there are better books (or even websites) out there that would potentially be more accurate. The art was good.

This story was a surprise, dazzling art based on the life of Bessie Coleman and told with the page turning tension of the graphic format. Engaging and entertaining for all ages

Interesting story about a real person. Inspiring to see a black/Native American woman flying when it was unheard of.

A thrilling story, an engaging heroine, and great art. I'm really looking forward to volume two!

Received via NetGalley.

Black Angel: Night Hawk is the first volume in a historical fiction series based on Bessie Coleman. Bessie is the first African American and the first Native American female pilot, and to see her life illustrated was a true joy. Yann and Henriet add so much extra to her story through their beautiful illustrations and words. A wonderful read for anyone looking to learn more about historical figures.

A good start to a fictionalized historical biography about the first African-American and first Native-American woman to ever hold a pilot's license, Bessie Coleman. While in this particular story she is shown to be a rum-runner during prohibition and to have taken on the KKK with her flying skills that stuff is most likely fabricated for the sake of a cool story, but this is still a great introduction to a historical personality that many people may have never heard about.

Wonderful art style and very interesting study of Bessie Coleman. Very inspirational story and it's wonderful to discover sides of history that aren't commonly shared.

Black Angel: Night Hawk is the first volume in a historical fiction series based on Bessie Coleman. Bessie Coleman should need no introduction, though it is a sad truth that many trailblazers in our country are rarely mentioned within the confines of public education. Bessie Coleman is the first African American and the first Native American female pilot, attaining her international pilot's license in 1921. She is a remarkable human being for accomplishing such goals during a time when opportunities were denied her for multiple reasons. On this premise alone, the reader enters Bessie's life as she delivers Mr. Capone's "numbers man" to settle some business. It is the era of Prohibition of good times happen when alcohol flows freely, and Bessie discovers an opportunity to make a living as a pilot for such enterprises. At the same time, the KKK is on the rise and a woman in her position does not goes unnoticed. The colors are bold and vibrant, moving between cool and warm depending on the shift of mood and setting. The text is a minor drawback, favoring a heaviness in the backstroke that requires careful reading and may impair flow for those with vision or reading difficulties. However, the vocabulary use for the time period is spot-on and explained well through visual context, with rich background layering for character development. This is a strong start for a new series with high appeal for young adults on up. Highly recommended.

Bessie Coleman knows that she can break the rules and fulfil her dreams. Knowing that, she made her way to the highest levels and got herself the licence and an aeroplane, Jessy. Even though she lived in tough times when KKK was a big issue, she fought for her freedom.

I am very passionate about this subject. As a student pilot myself, I know how difficult and challenging it can be: there are rules that you must follow, and, at the same time, you must be ready to break them when you find yourself in a non-comfortable situation (such as inflight emergencies concerning engines or onboard fires).

Overall, it is a good graphic novel for someone who loves aeroplanes and stories about women pilots.

While the art style was fine, I found the dialogue and story to be underwhelming. It didn't draw me in and there was too much detail given to parts of the story I didn't care much about (the mob handlings). I wish it would have led off with the pilot and her story out of the gate.

So I must admit I hadn’t heard of Bessie Coleman prior to reading this. I really enjoyed the graphic novel, but I also felt like there was a small amount of learning too. Not too much that I felt like I was back in high school. Just enough to make me feel slightly more enlightened.

And let’s be honest here, illustrated Bessie is gorgeous!!!! That is all the fan girling I will do!!!

Otherwise, this was a really interesting start!!! I already adore Bessie and I totally want to see where this is going!!! I do recommend this, but watch out, it’s pretty short and you may be left wanting more immediately.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Europe Comics for allowing me to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion!!!

Will be posted on my blog shortly.

'Black Angel: Night Hawk' by Yann with art by Henriet is a graphic novel very loosely based on the life of Bessie Coleman.

In this version of Bessie Coleman's life, she is still a capable pilot who is helping Al Capone to run bootleg alcohol. It finds her flying from France to Newfoundland in icy dangerous seas. She also finds herself the target of the growing KKK, so she has to hide her plane and identity.

There is not a lot of actual history of Bessie Coleman here except for her bravado as a pilot, but as a fictionalized version of her life, I found it a fun read. The art is pretty great too.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Bessie is absolutely gorgeous and awesomely inspiring. I honestly am looking forward to reading the rest of this series. These are the type of stories that I loved reading growing up so it's nice to return to the type of thing the consumed a majority of my early childhood reading.

The one pet peve was that the overall layout did not lend itself to reading easily on my phone. SO would recommend reading in a physical form.

I was curious to read Black Angel when I read the blurb and saw that it was based on Bessie Coleman, an amazing figure from history that I'd read about in the past and thought was a brilliant woman to base a book on; but I was surprised to see that it involved smuggling alcohol during prohibition, as this was something that Bessie never did. This seemed to be less a retelling of Bessie's life, and more a original story that drew some inspiration from her, and that was much more interesting.

The Bessie of this book isn't like the Bessie of history, and the story opens with her piloting seaplanes for Al Capone, carrying illegal alcohol, and his accountant, to and from the island of Saint-Pierre, sometimes flying through fierce snow storms and extreme conditions. It's a strong introduction to the character, one that shows she's not only an incredibly capable pilot, but a young woman who doesn't let fear or the possibility of danger hold her back.

After performing her delivery for the mob Bessie travels across country, returning home, where she keeps her own plane hidden away in her barn. This is where Bessie is able to feel the most free, where she is able to take to the sky and feel truly alive. Unfortunately, whilst out flying Bessie is still unable to escape the horrific racism of the time, coming across a KKK plane. After a brief altercation in the air the other plane is damaged and crashes, killing the Klansmen inside. This leads to the local KKK members beginning a hunt for Bessie.

It seems like this is going to be one of the main plots for the series going forward, Bessie and her troubles with the KKK, and I'm definitely up for that. Let's be honest, we all hate the KKK (and if not you should probably worry a bit) so seeing them getting shit is always enjoyable, and the panel with a Klansman impaled on a tree is one of the best comic panels I've seen in a while. It also adds a lot of danger for Bessie, as these are people who will without hesitation kill her.

Through flashbacks we discover that this isn't the first time that Bessie has had issues with the Klan either, and that they seem to be connected with her love for flying, with another Klan aeroplane being the one that seems to have played a part in inspiring her to fly herself. It makes for an interesting story dynamic, where these people who she hates may have played a part in giving her the inspiration to do the thing she loves.

These ideas don't get explored a whole lot here, as this volume is really all about setting the stage and establishing Bessie as a character, which it does well, but hopefully this will get more of a focus in future volumes. But, as a first book this was a really enjoyable read, one that got me interested, made me smile and cheer, and got me invested in the character.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing me with an e-copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review*

A mere 54 pages, but this graphic novel tackles a lot of heavy topics and packs a punch from the first page. I don’t have a lot of content to write my opinions on, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing because the brevity of this introductory volume says what it needs to say perfectly. Following the character of Bessie Coleman, the first ever black pilot after World War One, and the group of gangsters who she helped to smuggle prohibited goods through the black market, we see a life that is was shaped by the prejudices and beliefs of the time.

Bessie’s character is awesome. I already want her to succeed, and the biographical information we get at the end of Volume One only serves to prove that she worked really hard, despite everything being against her, to become a pilot. On that note, it was nice to have such biographical information about her tribal heritage, and other prominent aspects that were included in the comic. It really proves that the author and artist cares about representing history in a way that isn’t whitewashed or conveniently erased to fit the narrative of society.

Bessie is of Cherokee descent, specifically the Lighthorsemen tribe, which is fantastic representation and her black heritage too really brings home the danger she was in by the Ku Klux Klan, a scene which we see demonstrated towards the end of the graphic novel. It was short and impactful, yet shows the reader the true seriousness of the situation. Likewise, the scenes with the KKK members were harrowing and even though they are fictional here, their presence from the real life group made me shudder. In some ways, it’s good that I as a white woman was uncomfortable with their presence in the story, because it forces me to think about the ramifications their actions caused black people, and everyone else who was affected by their bigoted, ignorant and dangerous ideologies. Again, another instance of confronting discussions about racism in a way that shouldn’t be sugarcoated or watered down for white people, because those affected didn’t have the luxury/privilege of having their history be comfortable or coddled. It’s not my place to say what is and isn’t accurate representation for black characters, therefore, but I am glad that the author is opening up conversations about racism and the oppression of BIPOC characters.

The art style is like a traditional comic book, with contrasting colours and dialogue bubbles that have the right amount of text to space ratio. The panels are also not too intrusive on the overall pace of the story. By extension, the pace does flow really nicely for this introductory volume. The flashbacks to Bessie’s childhood are colourful, brief yet so important for the overall arc that is probably going to be developed in the next volumes. I love this style of comic/graphic novel, as it’s easy to follow and simple. Well done author.

The plot is only starting to happen, so we only see a small part of the life of the black market. Nevertheless, we already see some unseemly characters who use alcohol as their currency and dependency. Some people have said that the plot is a little bit messy, but I personally think we get enough of a balance of backstory and current, exposition of real time plot.

Safe to say, I will be keeping an eye out for the next volumes. I want to know what happens next and I am wholly intrigued as to where this story will go.

Diversity: Black, Indigenous (mixed race MC). No LGBTQIA+ rep yet, but there may be some in future volumes.

Trigger Warnings: Sexist Language, Lynching, Animal Death, Impaled Body, Racism/Micro-Aggressions Towards Black People, Alcohol, and On Page KKK Interactions.

For a short graphic novel, this is a really great introduction to a series that promotes the truth of black history and the elevation of black figures, particularly black women, who were integral to our world we live in today. I am highly anticipating the next volume, and know that we will see Bessie in her prime once again as the series progresses. Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in my next review :)

After reading this graphic novel, I immediately jumped into research to find any truth about Black Angels - which is a testament to the story writing and the characters. There's plenty of intrigue, the characters are dynamic and the artwork is great.

"Black Angel" was a great insight into a unique time period that focuses on the story of Bessie. She maneuvers every situation with cleverness and cuatiou which helps show a deeply human character in the face of blatant racism and prejudice. Engaging and interesting, I hope to see this become a full series.

The illustrations in this are some of the best I’ve seen in a while. It’s great to see a story like this, and it’s beautiful format, bringing history to life and making it easily accessible. This intertwining of history and art is both enjoyable and informative

I am so excited for this Graphic novel! it follows Bessie Coleman as she navigates the air in the pursuit of social justice in the 1920's. The illustrations are awesome and the story is great as well.