ADVANCE REVIEW: Red Border #1

A young Mexican couple narrowly escapes the Juarez Cartel by fleeing across the border into Texas, only to be run down in the desert by the Cartel’s most brutal thugs. Rescued by a mysterious local who takes them to the safety of his family’s ranch, the couple soon realize their hosts have more than just skeletons in their closet. Trapped in a house of horrors beyond their wildest imagination, the army of assassins on their trail might be the least of their problems

If you know anything about Mexico you know about Juarez and its reputation of two murders a day, horrific kidnappings and , a forty mile stretch of cotton fields and ghost towns, is so dangerous that even the police don’t dare to enter, inside the ghost towns of Mexico’s ‘Murder Valley’ – one of the deadliest places on earth. So of course Jason Starr made an excellent choice in using it as the background for a horror story.

Red Borders #1 tells the story of a Mexican couple, Karina and Eduardo, who are being hunted by Plaza elements of the Juarez Cartel, for snitching to the police in Juarez. The Narcos are led by a Kingpin looking’ wannabe called Javier, who wants them dead due to their hand in his nephew’s death. The couple now not able to go home and not able to go to the cops, decide to flee to the U.S border. The couple are now at the mercy of unknown territory and shady people they don’t know, to try escape the vengeance of Don Javier.

Though it“s not exactly inspired by the current political climate in Mexico, it does partially borrow from real life. The narrative exposition placed into the first two pages as background information, was so unnecessary especially when the affirmation of that information was in the same scene. It really didn’t help that the dialogue is awkward and a typical of the people it was depicting.
When it comes to the action in Red Border #1, the flow definitely moves fluidly, but I am disappointed by where it has led up to at this point. At great journey would have been the lead up to the border, but now the story has transitioned to the U.S side where I am guessing most of the horror is supposed to take place.

The art by Will Conrad (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Elektra, Serenity, She-Hulk) is first class, and the coloring by Ivan Nunes, gives it a gritty Batman feel, that went a long way towards keeping me engaged.

Even though Red Border is to only be 4 issues Comic book and digital media publisher Artists Writers & Artisans (AWA) is set to launch titles under their Upshot imprint this March, featuring creator owned stories in a shared universe. The books will center on superheroes and genres outside the powered world, so that could mean that whatever happens in this book may have implications for the entire AWA universe going forward.

3 stars out of 5

Writer: Jason Starr
Artist: Will Conrad
Cover Artist: Tim Bradstreet
Colorist: Ivan Nunes
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
published Artists Writers & Artisans (AWA) /Upshot Comics

In Shops: Mar 18, 2020
Diamond Code: JAN201611