SPLASHES OF DARKNESS: REDNECK VOL. 1 – DEEP IN THE HEART [COMIC BOOK REVIEW]

8/11/2021

Thematically, the creative team reaches farther, delving into such matters as the destructive cycle of revenge, inter-generational conflict about progressive change, and the de-humanisation of people as a way to justify violence against them.

Comic-books are a medium, not a genre; they can tell any story and suit any palate. You want horror? I've got bottles of the stuff. Welcome to 'Splashes of Darkness.'

The Taste:

Welcome back, hombre. Take a pew, no need to stand on ceremony. Hard day, huh? Hard life—I hear you. I’ve got just the thing. Pay no attention to them stains on the label, now; it’s just old blood, long dried. Last fella had a little…trouble letting go of the bottle. Started necking it (heh). Anyways, this is prime stuff: a full-bodied vampire noir, bitter’nuff ta shrivel lips. There’s somethin’ mighty compelling about it, though. Somethin’ redemptive – or trying to be – like darkness seeking the dawn.

The Pitch:

The Bowman family are vampires who have quietly run the local barbecue joint in Sulphur Springs for years, living off cow blood and trying to keep to themselves. Their peaceful coexistence ends as generations of hate and fear bubble to the surface, making it impossible to separate man from monster. Critically acclaimed writer Donny Cates (God Country) and artist Lisandro Estherren serve up the tale of a different kind of family just trying to get by, deep in the heart of Texas.

Thoughts on the Comic:

There’s a moment right near the beginning of Redneck that made me sit up and grin like the devil. Old man Bartlett – the grizzled vamp at the centre of this story – is sitting silently on his stoop, supping some Bloodweiser while his niece sits on the floor next to him, playing with her dolls. The boxed-out text acts as narration, introducing us to Bartlett’s personality, his world-view and a little of his back-story – fighting at the Alamo and through the Civil war and—and then his niece interrupts the flow to ask ‘What side?’ It’s a great segue which makes imaginative use of the medium, drawing us right into the scene. The box-outs weren’t just narration; they were Bartlett’s thoughts young Perry ‘heard’ as speech.

It’s a revelatory moment, small yet incredibly significant, and I knew then and there I was in good hands. (The pay-off proves it, too.) Cates is a phenomenal writer, crafting a tight, self-contained little story in the 6 issues of volume 1. Seed details are sown so gently as to appear windblown, yet every word, every incident builds on the last to create an atmosphere of tension. This may be a loving family, intent on maintaining a peaceful life, but the threat of violence runs through their property like lines of gunpowder. And when the rebellious kids decide to head off to the local ‘titty joint’, a spark is lit that cannot be doused. It’s not a slow burn, either.

This is one of those stories where both readers and characters alike are trying to deal with the last emergency when the next arises. Whilst other writers might choose to back off, building the tension yet further, Cates brings wrath down within a few short pages. This terrifying speed is captured beautifully in Estherren’s art with powerful moments that contrast to his otherwise measured pace. The smashed doors as Bartlett comes to the boys’ rescue; the flipped table as JV (his vampiric brother) loses his careful grip on rage; the extraordinary double-page spread as Granpa bursts from his attic room to take on the Sherriff’s men – all hold real kinetic shock value which, when you consider the static nature of pen and ink, is quite a feat.

I’ve said this is a tightly-focused story and, in plot-terms, it really is. The dominoes fall exactly as they should, like some kind of Shakespearean tragedy – and in that vein it is the hidden motive, the blind spot in our heroes’ vision that keeps us guessing, even as doom becomes inevitable. Thematically, the creative team reaches farther, delving into such matters as the destructive cycle of revenge, inter-generational conflict about progressive change, and the de-humanisation of people as a way to justify violence against them.

It is strange in a way that a book filled with such terrible hatred and violence holds moments of real tenderness too. They may be rednecks through and through, but we come to care about the Bowman brothers very deeply for the values they hold and the loves they share. Humanity at its best is a quality that crosses all social, cultural and national boundaries, seeking enlightenment, rejecting the savagery within. It is this slender thread of peace that they reach for – this ray of light over the horizon that may itself presage their extinction – and should they escape, should they find their way through tunnels and darkness to a new place of safety, we will follow them there and continue to hope for redemption.

Reading experience: 5/5

Written by Donny Cates
Illustrated by Lisandro Estherren
Coloured by Dee Cunliffe
Lettered by Joe Sabino
Published by Image Comics
Reporter: Dion Winton-Polak