That Texas Blood vol. 1

Here we have a story about a man who got out of Texas when he was young, escaped the cycle of violence and drugs that he and his brother were trapped in and made his way out to California.  This man is Randy Terrill and wouldn’t you know it, he just got word that his brother Travis is dead and now he has to come back out to Texas to sort out his brother’s affairs.  Which include drugs, guns, and a whole lot of owed money.  If you think that’s enough drama to pile on one story, writer Chris Condon would disagree with you as he throws in Randy’s concerned girlfriend and the plight of aging Sheriff Joe Bob Coates into the mix as well.  The end result is a narrative filled with heated conversations between characters, overwrought monologuing in the text boxes, and a main character who doesn’t so much as choose tragedy for himself, but is shoved into tragedy’s toilet and made to drink from it.  If that sounds like Texas to you, then you’re welcome to it.

That said, I didn’t buy “That Texas Blood” because I was expecting the story to be good.  No, I bought this volume because it’s the artistic debut of Jacob Phillips.  As the son of one of my favorite artists, Sean Phillips, I wanted to see what he was capable of.  “Much of the same stuff as his dad,” appears to be the answer for now.

It’s very unsurprising that Jacob takes after his dad, as his characters have the same kind of look to them only with thinner lines.  They also have the same intensity to them at times, even if they feel less so than his dad’s.  I realize it’s kind of a terrible critique to say that Jacob’s work is a lot like his dad’s only not as impressive, but that’s really what we’ve got here.  Except that his coloring work is spot-on.  Which is why he’s been coloring his dad’s art for the past few years now.  Jacob’s art is good enough that I’d like to see him develop his own, distinct style.  I just think that I’ll be waiting until he’s moved on from this particular series to see how that goes.