The outrageous origin of Captain Sin's fearsome foe! His cold heart is as horribly scarred as his frightful face…but how did the deadly pirate known as Blackjack Tom get that way? Find out in this special one-shot as EL CAZADOR writer Chuck Dixon spins a twisted tale of shipwrecks, murder, and cruel, cruel fate!

I was wondering how this would flow, as it doesn't seem like the right time for it to come out (as the arc hasn't even ended yet). I'm not really sure what the point of the story was though now I've read it. It doesn't show any real character development as Tom seemed to be sanctimonious and a bully from the start. The main thing that seemed to be missing was the heart and passion Dixon usually injects into his stories. So what was left was an extremely flat read.

I was surprised to find that Epting wasn't pencilling this issue, but after looking at the cover, which was yet again perfect in tone for the story, they're didn't seem to be a problem. Sergio Cariello definitely has a nice touch, but the thing I noticed was that all the characters only ever wore one type of facial expression. There seemed no subtlety in looks, which made no sense in a story that should have been filled with emotion.

Report Card - D-