The story is very intense and interesting. Waiting for the next issue each month like I did is how I imagine many feel waiting for the next episode of an award winning cable drama every week (I can’t fully say for sure though, I watch TV on streaming). This comic is a very compelling tale that keeps readers on the edge of their seats!

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. Because the main character of the story is a writer there’s a prose story that’s meant to be something that the character wrote. So I don’t like when people mix comics and prose in one book and it is a rather slow story included but on the other hand it’s understandable in context of the comic’s story and it does get interesting so in the end, I think it works. I will note: having read this in single issues and waiting each month for the next one, that probably helped me not mind as much, I kinda hope Image puts this bit at the end of the book when it’s released as a full trade. I would have probably been more annoyed if it was at the end of each issue if I was just trying to get to the next part of the story I’m reading in a trade. That Texas Blood, vol. 3 - Collects #14-19. "As a winter storm looms over Ambrose County in January of 1992, a local woman's body is discovered and believed to be the latest victim of a horrifying West Texas serial murderer known as the Red Queen Killer." - NOV220157 - WorldCat - ISBN 9781534323520 Overall great stuff. I think this will attract many Brubaker comparisons because of the plot and the art work but this has a ton of merit beyond that. Jacob Phillips and Chris Condon have their own flair for telling a story like this.On the other hand Condon and Phillips really set up an excellent atmosphere. The pacing is oh so slow, splashed with sudden outbursts of violence. Again No country for old men comes to mind and I really liked book and mocie both. I guess I thought it was a horror thing but it being a sun-baked and boozy neo-noir makes all the sense in the world too. It’s basically Blood Simple: The Comic. Equal parts The Coens and Brubaker, filtered through the pen of a native (at least I’m pretty sure Condon is Texan. You don’t get this woefully and beautifully specific about the feeling of BEING Texan without actually being one). Chris Condon, the writer and apparent mentee of Brubaker, is also good in this first volume. The story is called by some western noir, and I guess that fits. Condon’s story isn’t as layered or filled with as many pop culture references or is quite as clever as Brubaker’s work, but that is the highest standard. Condon has a nice ear for dialogue and a sense of humor echoing Brubaker: A casserole dish is featured as punchline for a macabre joke. 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

Jacob Phillips have been taught well and impressively stands out as a future worthy successor to his father. I’ll admit I’m not too fond of the way he colors for now but I’m pretty sure it’ll pass with time. 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).Issue #1 is an amazing standalone tale that introduces Joseph Coates, the 70-year old sheriff of desert-like and small-town area of Ambrose County, Texas. Coates has some amusing idiosyncrasies to go along with the casual neighborly way he handles his job. He's feeling his years, and begins to doubt his abilities to continue doing his job properly. A great introductory issue. 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. Not a bad start, especially for a rookie duo such as Condon and Phillips. I hear this is Chris Condon's first book ever in the industry, so for his official start, it was good.