Black Solstice

A trending social media meme that Black people were granted brief superpowers on winter solstice 2020—“Black power had a whole new meaning”—is turned into a lackluster debut graphic novel by Oscar-winning directors Free and Roe that fails to capture the serendipity of its inspiration. The disorganized narrative opens in 2021, when Solstice will arrive again in three days and Black people are hoping to receive “a good ol’-fashioned, no-bullshit superpower” for 24 hours. Info dumping slows the pacing until the focus switches to Quentin and Nekesa “Kesa” Wallace, siblings who gained celebrity during the last solstice. Sassy Quentin is known as The Whore, who “fooled that pop star into marrying” his “tight tight chocolate gold” (with paper-thin reference to Harry Styles as groom), and activist Kesa is The Prophet (she could communicate with all Black people simultaneously). In a baffling attempt to “change the whole fucking world,” Kesa assembles a team to rob the Federal Reserve—a scheme that unspools in the narrative’s tepid finale. Massa’s chunky drawings too often lose detail, creating an unfinished, flat look. Despite some funny beats, the script lacks finesse, aiming at timely satire but coming up stale. This doesn’t live up to its clever potential. (Dec.)