That Texas Blood, Volume 1 (Texas Blood, 1)

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Just when it seems like no other creative team will challenge the supremacy of crime comics duo Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, THAT TEXAS BLOOD comes out. Simply brilliant! This may be my absolute favorite crime comic of 2021, and I've read several outstanding entries. Artist Jason Phillips is the son of Sean Phillips, and that influence is all over his outstanding illustrations here. There is a horrible little county in Texas, where horrible little men and women commit their horrible little acts, crashing into each other’s lives in grim, poetic ways. As our Sheriff made his way around town, it started to dawn on me what the writing and artwork were accomplishing. Like any great modern-day Western, it isn’t flashy, but by the end of the story, you realize you’ve experienced something special. I’m not from Texas, but I am from the South, and I can say that I’ve been in this world. I’ve met these people. I’ve experienced the heat that this comic perfectly encapsulates. Everything the story wants to do, it does, and it does it to perfection.

Volume One told pretty much a complete story so maybe the second will be about entirely something else. if that's the case I'm totally signing up for it. i hope there will be more lovable characters. The ending is really good. It pretty much wraps everything up for this story (but supposedly there will be a second volume which I will definitely be reading).All that across six tersely beautiful issues that do you the courtesy of finally just showing you instead of telling you in laborious, overwrought narration. It’s also awesome too, Condon excels at the crime stuff but also totally nails the cosmic terror of bad childhoods, the death grip of “masculinity”, the grace of aging (and the disconnection from society that comes with it). This thing is kinda all things to all Ditto Jacob Phillips. Prior to this I’ve only seen his colouring on Brubaker/Phillips’ books but damn this kid can draw every bit as good as his dad - and, again, still so young! The comic is well laid out with engaging and imaginative shots and expressive characters. Like the writing, it doesn’t seem possible that this is a first-timer’s effort but it looks like both Condon and Phillips are natural comics creators - or, more likely, have worked really hard at their craft to start this strong.

After an excellent first issue that made me think of No country for old men all the way and which introduced laconic and elderly sheriff Joe Bob we plunge into a typical revenge story. It’s good, it’s violent, it’s noir but it’s not without flaws. ThatTexasBlood has a lot of that more-behind-what-it-shows air of mystery to it. i actually even thought there would be more supernatural affectations to it but that turns out to be some storytelling motif. That Texas Blood, vol. 1 - Collects #1-6. "Sheriff Joe Bob Coates questions his effectiveness as the aging lawman of Ambrose County, Texas as chaos descends following an explosive highway confrontation and the mysterious death of local rogue Travis Terrill." - OCT200050 - WorldCat - ISBN 9781534318069 - KindleMichael John Petty has been a Features Writer with Collider since 2021 and has had a blast ever since. Michael received his B.A. in Film & Photography from Montana State University and has over a decade's worth of podcasting experience. That Texas Blood doesn’t feel like it was adapted from short stories or an undeveloped script. Condon does a great job writing for comics and his power really comes from how well he crafts small character moments and builds atmosphere with the sharing of folkloric story tales between the people who inhabit the world. One of my favorite things that Condon does here is the addition of Joe’s wife Martha using the police walkie talkie to chat with him throughout the day. It’s a sweet almost irrelevant thing that showcases not only how much Joe loves his wife but also the usually slow pace of the day to day movements in Ambrose Country. Another character in the spotlight is Randy Terrill, a young man who went through the good and the bad in his relationship with his older and colder brother Travis, both of whom were public menaces towards their hometown. There is an anger that ties into Ambrose County, from past sins to the sudden death of his brother, and Randy unleashes that rage to exact revenge towards a place that is becoming a cesspool for the criminals and the corrupt that Condon is setting up in later issues.