By Jacob Cordas — Comics are not a quiet medium. It’s not fair to say that they don’t lend themselves to it. It’s more that the market itself is so heavily composed of the bombastic. Odds are you pick up any comic, regardless of publisher, and you’ll find a story featuring lots of action, quips galore and a thundering pacing that steam rolls through to the end. 

That Texas Blood #1 is not that. 

That Texas Blood #1 is quiet and thoughtful in a way I so rarely get to read in this medium. Chris Condon (Brutal Dark) and Jacob Phillips (Criminal) have come together to make a neo-western noir that resonates with its thoughtfulness. 

Condon’s writing is casually paced with a laconic Texas style that is so difficult to get right. It takes its time revealing the world and the characters without ever feeling like it's dragging its feet. This is simply the way our protagonist, aging sheriff Joe Bob Coates, works through his day. We are just being treated to the luxury of observing it. 

It’s in all those small moments that fill up his day that the comic truly succeeds. His choice to kill a snake with a shovel instead of a gun speaks volumes. His sneaking around with beef jerky has a charming wholesomeness keying us in on just how deep his love for his wife goes. Even the nightmare he endures on the job is casually horrific, implying a repetition to this dream without ever saying as much. 

The art from Phillips really brings this all together. His coloring was always excellent in Criminal, and here his linework soars. As someone who has lived in the Southwest for far too long, I can attest that he gets the visuals of the region exactly right. The desert landscape can often be simplified down or turned to rote tropes we’ve all seen an infinite number of times before. But even the sunset here, the most commonly depicted visual of the desert, looks and feels right. I could have stepped outside and watched the same visual off Camelback Mountain if I had wanted to.

But the place he excels at most here, which I would not have expected, is with illustrating facial features. The quietness of the narrative requires a level of nuance to Joe Bob Coates’ face that is rarely seen anywhere. Special attention should be given to the way Phillips depicts Joe Bob’s internal conflict while trying to pick up a casserole dish. The way he shows him processing it, debating what to do, concerned for her safety - it carries this scene into a vista of such complexity. 

In a medium so dedicated to being magniloquent, it is a testament to the creators they got this made. And it was an absolute privilege to sit here with country music blaring in my ears* and read it. 

Overall: That Texas Blood #1 is a smart and perfectly paced neo-western noir. Put on your favorite country album, pour two fingers of whiskey and enjoy this excellent experience. 10/10

*For anyone curious I went with Abigail Washburn’s Song of the Traveling Daughter. Let me know what you decided to listen to while reading. 

That Texas Blood #1
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Jacob Phillips
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99
CRIMINAL colorist and first time solo artist JACOB PHILLIPS and writer CHRIS CONDON break onto the scene with a brand-new ongoing series! Like Paris, Texas gut-punched by No Country for Old Men, this mature neo-Western crime series kicks off when the search for a casserole dish leads to a dark and tense confrontation on Sheriff Joe Bob Coates’ 70th birthday.“CHRIS & JACOB pull off something remarkable here. A vivid and bright story that nails a thorough sense of foreboding and darkness. A shocking amount of talent for a duo so fresh to comics!” —CHIP ZDARSKY (SEX CRIMINALS, Daredevil)
Release Date: June 24, 2020
Buy It Online: Via comiXology

Read more great comic book reviews!

My name is Jacob Cordas (@Jacweasel) and I am not qualified to write this.