John Black is an agent with the CIA.
Well, he would be if he actually existed, which he does not, really, when we first meet him but will later on. Confusing? Yep, but interesting.
Also interesting is Jack Donner, which may or may not be the real identity of Black. I say that because I thought at first that Donner was the real identity, someone why just used the John Black persona on a few missions. Then we are told that investigators into Donnor's history start finding "strange gaps. He's a man with little history except night and fog". I believe I will stick with Donnor being the original name and Black being a fake name that Donnor will have reason to adopt for good later on.
One reviewer of the first Donner/Black adventure says, "Jack Donner, the main protagonist, possesses enough cynicism and hardened experience to effectively tackle and defeat any espionage bureaucracy that might stand in his way or sabotage his efforts in his fight against corruption and iniquity." He definitely shows that he is one very resourceful and resilient operative.
Black is, for most of the time we follow his actions, part of the team of a government agent named . Normally, a team member does not qualify having his or her own page in this compendium but Black does because he not only had a solo adventure of note, it actually came before he was introduced to Raven and became a valued member and friend.
Inside that team, he is invariably referred to by Raven as "the kid", not because he was particularly young but because he apparently looked it, at least to the highly seasoned and by no means young himself Raven.
Black, however, is not a kid. He is an experienced operative who is also an trained engineer and a skilled pilot who does occasional contract work for the U.S. Air Force when he is not needed for his more clandestine work.