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Creative Team – Stephanie Phillips(writer). Goran Sudžuka(illustrator). Ive Svorcina(colors). Tom Napolitano(letterer). Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina(cover art). Dave Johnson, DANI, Brad Simpson, Cliff Chiang, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, Toni Fejzula, Sajad Shah(variant cover artists).
Published by BOOM! Studios
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Back in town
Starting Red Before Black #1, our main character, Val, is back in town after years away. Turns out, she just got released from prison the week prior. She shows up at a bar looking for Miles, someone she knew before prison. Val is there for a reason and that reason is she needs a job. Undoubtedly, it’s not the normal job you’d expect someone who’s just been freshly released from prison to go for. Instead, it’s a job that requires Val to get her hands extremely dirty. According to Miles, he wants to send a message about a woman named Leo who’s stolen his product.
Now it’s time we find out who Leo is. Leo is in the middle of a deal and the customer refuses to pay. That’s not very good for business. It turns out that Leo agrees and shows it by driving her car through the room. Now that she’s made even more enemies, she tries to hightail it to a club when she’s spotted. Val gets eyes on her as soon as someone else who’s keeping a lookout for her does. Surprisingly, Val takes down the man who’s going after Leo. But what’s even more surprising is that Val has some sort of hallucination of herself in a life-and-death situation which Leo has to break her out of.
After all the craziness in the club, Leo invites her out for a drink, which Val declines with the reasoning that she has to get home. Once she get’s home, she’s greeted by an unexpecting colleague that makes it very clear what Val’s motives have been. Now that her game plan is revealed, I’m excited to see what her next steps are.
The Art
Something I really loved about Red Before Black #1 is how well the art style shows how drastic the tone of each panel is. Whether it be the purple tones of the club, or the bright oranges of the panels with Leo, they’re all very stunning. The colors work so well with the drawing, which is nothing to scoff about. The detail that goes into each panel is very impressive. I really appreciated how well the characters were drawn. You could practically hear the tones of their voices by looking at their face.
The Writing
I have to say, this first installment of Red Before Black has me hooked! Val and her story is captivating. I like that there’s already so many layers to uncover while getting such a solid story. I do wish we got more of Leo’s story, but who’s to say what Red Before Black #2 will bring us?
The comic gives you so many different things such as action, mystery, and even some violence. It was enthralling to read and kept me on my toes the entire time. Can’t wait to read the second installment!
I give this a 8.5 out of 10
This review was written by Megan from Vigilante Vibes: A Marvel Podcast! If you liked my review, be sure to check out my other reviews! Let me know what you think of Red Before Black, or tell me what comics you’d recommend me trying out! Find me on my socials, and check out my Marvel podcast, Vigilante Vibes, by clicking here!
