Augie De Blieck, Jr. at CBR totally gets where Jon and I were going with The Black Diamond: "It's an interesting read for the process and the ingenuity seen within it. Here's the thing: the main storyline and the high concept is just the rod in your closet. It's all the clothes hanging off the rod -- some neatly pressed, others slightly wrinkled with character -- that are the interesting parts. The plot is an excuse to have scenes of characters talking about different things, and one or two big set-piece car chase-and-crash things. Even better, the author knows this, relies on it, and invites you to revel in it with him. Don't pay attention to the rod. Look at the hangers... The Black Diamond: Get in the Car and Go is another piece of experimental high concept storytelling from the word processor of Larry Young. If you're into this kind of thing, you'll enjoy the book. If you want a straight-up high octane summer blockbuster action thriller, this one's not going to work for you. (Go read that Monster Attack Network book, instead, or the original Astronauts in Trouble book, or even The Couriers.) That said, The Black Diamond would be an excellent platform to spin such an action thriller off of."

+++++

Ambush Bug at Ain't It Cool News: "What writer Larry Young has created is a framework to build a whole slew of stories upon, as illustrated by various artists in the back-up features. It's a highway with no rules. There is no speed limit. And it's populated by gearheads, bikers, and gangs of road warriors. This spells trouble for Dr. McLaughlin, who has to use the highway to make it across the country ASAP in order to rescue his wife. I especially like the trippy ending of this over the top road movie of a book. In that final chapter alone, artist Jon Proctor earns his artistic wings of accomplishment with his stunning splash pages and iconic imagery."

+++++

... and, I love you, Johnny Bacardi: "But calling it a 'quest' is a bit highfalutin'- this story, with its QT-esque dialogue and non-stop muscle car action, is strictly 1973 drive-in fare all the way- a spiritual cousin of such double feature diamonds as Two Lane Blacktop, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, and yes, even Death Race 2000 or maybe, just maybe, a hint of Mad Max. To carry the film comparisons further, as I said when I wrote about the final issue, I enjoyed how Young breaks down the wall between story and storyteller, superimposing the actual script and directions over the images; it's unorthodox but I thought it worked nicely and reminded me a lot of movies such as Dennis Hopper's weird-assed The Last Movie, or even the ending of Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. I sometimes think Young was born too late, actually- in another life I believe he would have been destined to pitch scripts to Roger Corman."