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Hunter Black is a hard boiled low fantasy adventure webcomic written by Justin Peniston and drawn by William Orr about a quest for revenge.

After having been played as a patsy by a mysterious cabal as a cover for a heist of epic proportions, assassin Hunter Black was sent to the Hell Pyramid, one of the worst prisons in the world. After somehow escaping and getting his hands of the legendary sword Revenger, he goes on a quest to hunt down the ones who had set him up, and get his revenge. However, since Hunter was an archer, not a swordsman, and an assassin, not a warrior, he has a long, hard road ahead of him before he can claim his vengeance.

This webcomic provides examples of:

  • Annoying Arrows: Hunter has been shot several times and keeps coming back to kick ass. Of course, probably justified since his sword has Life Drain when he uses it to kill a traitor.
  • Combat Pragmatist: In his first fight, he used a bow to wound his opponent before he was even anywhere near him, before moving in with his sword.
  • Cool Sword: Revenger. Along with being Forged by the Gods, when bathed in betrayer's blood, it grants renewed health and vigor to the wielder, and if the person betrayed was the wielder, the boon is even greater. Of course, the catch is, if you use it to kill someone who never betrayed anyone... then the revenge belongs to the person you killed, and their ghost can kill you at any time they please, and your soul is in eternal bondage to your victim, even in the afterlife.
  • Daddy's Little Villain: Sordon's oldest daughter Jusadva took over her father's criminal enterprise when he died.
  • Dark Fantasy: Averted. Despite being really gritty, it's probably not so bad for the man-on-the-street. It's just that everyone Hunter interacts with is a criminal.
  • The Dreaded: There are reasons that church law made necromancy a crime... and there are reasons why no church soldier has tried to get him under the axe. Every time you hear about some poor bastard stray getting executed for reanimating a corpse, Zezem the Cruel laughs at the gods. If the church won't mess with him, why the hell would I?
  • Deliberately Monochrome: Of the "Limited Palette" variety. Black and white. Red blood, orange Glowing Eyes of Doom when Hunter uses the Revenger to kill someone. Golden magic.
    • The Godling is the only character to appear in full color.
    • One Kickstarter-added character has purple eyes.
  • Forged by the Gods: The Revenger is one of several objects forged by the gods. The sword is unique, given that it is the only weapon in the set.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
    • Revenger, full stop.
    • Zezem The Cruel.
  • Revenge: Hunter's motive. He was no angel, and he killed the equivalent of the freakin' pope, but when he discovered that he was set up, he took it very personally.
    • His Cool Sword, Revenger is closely associated with the trope. If used to kill a betrayer, it steals their life force and grants it to the wielder-and if they betrayed the wielder personally, they get their memories. If it's used to commit a betrayal, the victim becomes a Revenant Zombie and will try to take the sword. When used against someone who never betrayed anyone? They pretty much own the wielder forever.
  • Ominous Floating Castle: The wizard Caliban the Illusionist's lair.
  • Sorcerous Overlord: All 13 Wizards have their territories, but only Tzetzem'tze'tzmose the Shaper is a king as well.
  • Sinister Schnoz: Hunter's nose is regarded as "majestic" by the author.
  • Teach Me How To Fight: As mentioned, Hunter is an archer assassin, not a sword-swinging warrior, so part of his quest for revenge leads him to tracking down a mentor, to teach him to use a sword.
    • Admittedly, he has a small amount of skill with a blade, but it was never his preferred weapon.
  • The Alcatraz: Hell Pyramid. It's actually relatively easy to exit the building itself, but it's located in a jungle where most everything is poisonous and/or carnivorous. That includes much of the plant life.
  • Toxic Phlebotinum: Skysteel is found only in the Hell Pyramid, and mining the stuff is dangerous, since exposure to unrefined skysteel can cause you to catch the Hunger Blight, a disease that even the gods cannot cure.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: The Fishwife is among the hottest women to be seen in the comic so far, while her husband comes perilously close to Gonk territory. It's indicated that they are very much in love, and the one person to have ever claimed to have had the "Catch Of The Day" asides from her husband ended up gutted like a fish.
  • Unequal Rites: The 13 cannot stand each other-apparently, there's a curse that makes wizards try to kill each other or explode-literally. They have to stay in their own countries. There are also Strays, who are wandering, mercenary sorcerors, and The Human Divine, who can shapeshift but don't have the "cannot be in proxemity" problems that other magicians have. Word of God says Mandies use Psychic Powers instead of magic.

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