The visuals are stunning and stylish and the craftsmanship and technical skill is thoroughly impressive, but the tone and subtext completely clash in terms of offering a truly nourishing narrative experience.
It could have been wonderful to see these two continue to put out amazing issue after amazing issue of Black Widow, but all good things must come to and end. Hopefully there are wonderful things on the horizon from both Edmondon and Noto.
Southern Bastards #10 is the perfect embodiment of the entire series’ relationship to the South, idealized rural Americana, and toxic masculinity overall.
A comic that takes you out of your comfort zone but not by being dark and disturbing, just by coming from somewhere so different from what we’re used to.
In a way, the writing trope is a tad uninspired here, but the energy and enjoyment of the overall experience are certainly not dampened. Ultimately, Stringers #1 is a solid first issue.
One of the most essential qualities to telling a thoroughly compelling story is its ability to rouse the question, “and then what happened?!?” Copperhead #9 will have the reader doing this before each flip of the page right up until the end.
