Oni Press 2015
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Drew Moss
Coloured by Nick Filardi
Lettered by Crank!
The Stubbs are a rowdy, trouble making bunch, but the Whatleys... folks speak of the Whatleys in hushed whispers. When the Whatleys bargain with dark forces to rid them of the Stubbs clan, four unlikely heroes are all that’s left between a ravenous legion of ghoulish, vampiric creatures and the unsuspecting world beyond the boundaries of this sleepy Ozarks community.
Alright so this is the last issue of this particular story and in all honesty it really goes to show what Cullen is capable of. We’ve been treated to the crazy supernatural version of the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s here and it’s filled with twists and turns and all kinds of just great characterization and writing. That it’s been this hard to figure out where he’s taking these characters, other than the obvious attempt at saving the town, has been a sheer delight. Once I figured out anything and everything was fair game here I stopped trying to figure out what’s next and just enjoyed the ride.
I have to admit that when they got to the Whatley farm and discovered what they did I kind of cheered a bit. Ezekiel Whatley the only survivor of his kinfolk being in the state he was yeah that’s pretty much when I realized how much Cullen kind of “borrowed” from so many different existing ideas to flesh out his own and make it unique in ways only he can. His tale of what he’d done while not very surprising okay well aside from the sacrifice and the devil himself sending a minion to “help” thing. Sure he wanted to educate his kin on why the feud was there and he wanted to end it once and for all. God forbid they just talked lol but then we wouldn’t have this story would we.
So after learning what they could from old Ezekiel and with time running thin, well remember Jack was bit, things have to happen quickly now. I’m thrilled with how this went mainly because as i’ve said you cannot predict what’s going to happen. Who lives, who dies and do they save the town and the townsfolk? Well that’s something you’ll have to discover for yourself but suffice it to say it’s well worth the time to read and find out.
Drew and Nick’s work on the interiors has kept me entertained, enthralled and happy throughout the entire story. Their take on the vampires and showcasing the Tarantula’s and then the characters themselves, yes still loving the Bo and Luke Duke feel they give off, have really given this the heart and soul needed to be as effective as it’s been. They’ve done exceptional work that has changed my opinion about the style here and that’s a huge accomplishment in itself.
This has been an amazingly well told story, the writing has been spectacular and artwork perfectly suited to it.