The origin of Blacktop Bill is revealed in Nocterra: Blacktop Bill Special, by writers Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel, artist Denys Cowan, inker Kent Williams, colorist Chris Sotomayor, and letterer Andworld Design. While this comic doesn't give Blacktop Bill's entire origin, it gives a tantalizing glimpse into who he is and is quite entertaining for it.

This comic takes place offscreen in Nocterra #4 when Bellwether and Mother Hubbard are discussing Blacktop Bill. The book tells the part of the conversation that readers didn't see, telling the story of Bill's life before the Big PM and how he made his living as a hitman of hitmen. It also reveals his passion and the reason he looks at the world the way he does and gives a glimpse of how he became covered in black before flashing to the present day as Bill gets ready for another of his passion projects.

Snyder and Daniel use voiceovers to tell the story, as Mother Hubbard relates what she's heard about Bill. This is one of Snyder's greatest strengths as a comic writer. Very few modern writers know how to utilize exposition like he does. In some other writer's hands, this much exposition would get kind of boring, but Snyder knows just how to spice it up and make it interesting. He has a gift for language that shines through in everything he writes.

Bill isn't exactly a groundbreaking character; he's just a man obsessed with death, and while most readers figured this out from his previous appearances in Nocterra, there's something visceral about seeing it that makes it all the better. The entire point of this issue is to reveal Bill's "passion kills." His job was to be a hitman, but Bill loved killing so much he'd hunt down survivors, people who had lived after some terrible thing, and kill them. He wanted to make people close to death, as he felt the pre-Big PM world made everyone so obsessed with themselves that they lost what grounded them all. It's a fascinating character trait and one that definitely adds to what readers know about him, giving his status as a faceless boogeyman even more terror.

Veteran artist Denys Cowan joins the book on pencils and does amazing. Cowan's style is very different from Daniel's slick style, and it fits here nicely. Even though reader's never see Bill's face, Cowan is still able to invest him with menace just using his creepy smile. Cowan shows why he's been in the industry for so long, as every panel he draws has a feel to it that really captures the story Snyder and Daniel are telling.

Nocterra: Blacktop Bill Special doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't have. It's a well-put-together, entertaining story that grabs the reader from the word go and doesn't let go. Snyder, Daniel, Cowan, and company craft a great little comic that every fan of Nocterra should pick up.

Grade: A-