The Boys’charactersinfamously satirize other established superhero characters, and while I don’t think anyone would be surprised to know thatHomelander is based on Superman, I was one of many readers surprised to learn that Black Noir isn’t based onBatman. While they’re both stealthy ninja characters who dress all in black and rarely speak, Black Noir is actually based on a totally different character.
The Boys#65 – written by Garth Ennis, with art by Russel Braun – contains one of the series' biggest twists, the reveal that Black Noir is a deranged Homelander clone. Like most fans, for the majority of the comic’s run,I’d just assumed Noir was a Batman spoof – but this revelation made it clear he’s actually Bizarro, Superman’s twisted opposite.
Once I made this connection, it made me appreciate how deep Ennis’s lampooning of superhero characters and tropes actually goes, which re-emphasizedhow pivotalThe Boyshas been in comicsover the past two decades.
Black Noir Took Everything Homelander Was Supposed To Stand For And Turned It Upside Down – Like Bizarro
The Boys#65 – Written By Garth Ennis; Art By Russel Braun, John McCrea & Keith Burns; Color By Tony Avina; Lettering By Simon Bowland.
The major reveal at the end ofThe Boys#65, thatBlack Noir is a clone of Homelander, changed my perspective on the series in multiple ways. I know it was intended to do this – but perhaps the most lasting impact was making me realize Black Noir = Bizarro.Fans ofThe BoysTV seriesmight immediately think of Homelander as evil and unhinged, but that wasn’t exactly true of the comic version. Comic book Homelander legitimately wanted to be a hero,he was just woefully unprepared to be one – especially because he was being manipulated by his dark opposite.
Black Noir is not a failed version of Batman, but rather another version of Superman that intentionally subverts everything heroic about the character.
Despite his incredible powers, Homelander had no training to properly use them. Still, Homelander only becomes evil after being confronted with the evidence of Black Noir’s crimes, and being tricked into believing them to be his own doing. If it wasn’t for Black Noir’s bizarre actions, Homelander would’ve remained a hero, albeit an incompetent one. This is why I find it especially interesting to connect Black Noir to Bizarro; Black Noir is not a failed version of Batman, but rather another version of Superman that intentionally subverts everything heroic about the character.
Fans Of The Boys Comic Should’ve Known Early On That Black Noir Wasn’t Batman, Because Of Tek-Knight
The BoysTrue Caped Crusader Equivalent
One of the biggest reasons that most fans, myself included, assumedBlack Noir was meant to be Batman, is there wasn’t any other member of the Seven who fit that role. However,The Boysdid have a Batman analog in the form of Tek-Knight. Tek-Knight was a billionaire crime fighter who used high-tech gadgets to take down criminals, as well as having a young ward who acted as his sidekick. Yet surprisingly, Tek-Knight never played that big of a role in the comics, as he only briefly interacted with Butcher and his group before suffering a gruesome fate.
In a way, maybe myself and other readers tricked ourselves into thinkingThe Boysversion of Batman had to play a bigger role.
Still, in retrospect, it is clear to me thatTek-Knight’s Batman parallels should have made me reconsider Black Noir, even beforeThe Boys#65. Tek-Knight was quickly killed off inThe Boys#10, and considering the series ran for seventy-two issues, it’s no surprise that I neatly forgot about him. Tek-Knight ultimately wasn’t important, despite him being a parody of one of the biggest characters in comic book history. In a way, maybe myself and other readers tricked ourselves into thinkingThe Boysversion of Batman had to play a bigger role.
The Greater Implications Of Black Noir’s True Identity Were As Surprising As The Twist Itself
A Reveal No One Saw Coming
For me, as a fan, the Tek-Knight misdirect ultimately had an important ripple effect on the series, though I didn’t realize it until long after the fact. The thing that makes the Black Noir twist so effective is that Black Noir isn’t who I thought he was on any level. This allowed for a genuinely shocking moment –and subsequently has given me and legions of other readers ample justification to pour back over the series and scrutinize each page, each panel, looking for the things we missedduring the series' initial run.
The Boys' Ending Proves Homelander Shouldn’t Have Been Their Main Target (& It’s Not Black Noir Either)
Butcher and his team spend most of The Boys' storyline trying to kill Homelander, but Hughie admits they should have been looking elsewhere.
As much as I appreciate the savage satiricalthroughline of Garth Ennis’ superhero series, the thing that keeps me coming back toThe Boysis how it is full of twistsand turns. No one is who you think they are. Black Noir is a clone of Homelander and a parody of Bizarro. Homelander isn’t nearly as evil as readers thought he was, and the final antagonist of the story was a surprise to everyone. These are the swerves and unexpected upheavals that make the series such a pleasurable read.
While many people have unfortunately brushedThe Boysoff as just shock material, I maintain that there are a lot of fun and interesting things about the story, waiting there for the people who care to look beyond the surface-level gore and profanity. Nothing encapsulates that better than the fact that, while on paper,Black Noirlooks like a simple parody ofBatman, the character’s true identity has so much more depth than just that.
The Boys
Cast
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
