In this review of Red Before Black #1, Val is out of prison but in need of a job. She takes one from Miles but the job is to kill a thief Leo. This job stirs up feelings in Val but she proceeds to get to know Leo.
Red Before Black #1
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist and Main Cover: Goran Sudžuka
Color Artist: Ive Svorchina
Variant Covers: Dave Johnson, Toni Fejzula, Dani, Cliff Chiang, Goran Sudžuka
Release Date: August 7, 2024
This review contains spoilers
Red Before Black #1 — The Story
Red Before Black #1 begins as we meet Val on a stormy night in Miami. She enters a bar looking for Miles Allen, one of the owners of this bar. She is greeted by an “associate” of Miles, Elliot. After a brief confrontation that almost ends with a fight that Eliot is sure to lose, Miles enters. Val has a drink with Miles.
Val is here to see Miles because she needs help. She is recently out of prison and she is looking for a job. This job is probably not the best for Val because Miles wants Leo killed. She stole some product from Miles and now Miles looks really weak after the deaths of a couple more of his associates. Miles gives her a tip that she might be headed for a nearby club to sell her stolen merchandise. Val asks for the address and leaves the bar.
At the bar in question we meet Danny, he is in fact meeting with Leo. The products in question are drugs and Leo wants to sell them to Danny. Danny however tries to stiff her and sends her out the door. This does not sit well with the budding entrepreneur. She drives into the club, reclaims her stolen merchandise and leaves on foot. Danny sends some muscle after her but they both end up in a crowded part of the city. Val however shows up.
She takes on the muscle breaking the guy’s nose. She is now face to face with her target, but the guy is not finished. He attacks Val and in the fight the ground appears to crack under her and vines shoot up from the pavement. The chasm opens up and Val finds herself in a forest.
Val hears a voice crying for help, she tries to respond but is confronted with a glowing white snake. Back in Miami, Val is punching in the face of the guy and Leo is trying to pull her off. She succeeds and Leo and Val make their escape into the crowd. Leo offers Val breakfast but Val feels in her jacket for her gun. Val refuses but Leo offers to meet her at a diner for breakfast. Without saying yes or no, Val leaves.
Val enters her motel room but she hears a noise in her bathroom. She pulls her gun and confronts Charles Lamb, he is not a cop. Lamb is there to make sure Val does her job. Val says she is out and Lamb tells her there is no out. Lamb told Val to go to Miles. She tells Lamb that he wants her to commit murder. Lamb drops that he is with the FBI. He is using Val as an informant to bring down Miles’s criminal enterprise. He tells her to meet with Leon and we the two in a diner.
Analysis
Red Before Black #1 is the first issue and the writing is great. We meet the main characters and get a feel for their character and involvement in the story. The story centers around Val. She is an ex criminal who had an association with Miles in the past. It appears that in essence she is on a work release program with the FBI. They pull her from prison and are using her to gather information on Miles and his enterprise. Charles Lamb is her FBI agent handler. This informant however has the ability to carry a gun.
We meet Leo, she is in her own right a criminal entrepreneur. She is a younger goth woman who is as slick as she is brutal. She appears to have affection for Val even though she does not know who Val is. Val for her part appears not to want to kill this woman in particular however it appears that she wants to draw the line at murder in general.
What we see is that Val has some baggage. She appears to have some form of PTSD that when she is fighting Danny’s muscle, she has a vision she is in a forest hearing someone screaming for help. This affects Val enough for her to want to quit the mission but Agent Lamb convinces her to move forward.
The art is fantastic. Both Val and Leo are drawn as very attractive yet distinct women. Their clothes and hair are remarkably different as are their facial features. All the men shown are different as well.
The most fascinating aspect of the art is Val’s PTSD vision. It starts in the street where she is fighting. The grown cracks and a chasm is formed that shows vines arising from it. She then appears to fall down and ends up in a forest. When she is brought back to the present which by the way she is still fighting there is no change to the street.
I particularly liked the panel that closes this story. We see the scene in the diner. It appears that we are looking at Val and Leo in the window. I am not sure that is what is depicted here because in the foreground we see a closeup of the two women’s hands, Leo holding a knife and Val holding a cup. It is possible that we are on the other side of the4 table seeing the reflection in the window. What is interesting is that we see Val’s gun with her hand on it. I guess Florida is an open carry state.
Final Thoughts
The art in Red Before Black #1 creates the feeling of a crime noir and the story appears to either have a psychic or supernatural aspect to it. I am excited for either possibility. This is a terrific introduction to these characters, telling us a little about them without divulging too much while creating anticipation for what will come next.
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