Red before black, OK, Jack. Red before yellow, kills a fellow. This brief mnemonic poem about identifying certain venomous snakes is what opens the comic. It introduces our setting of Miami, Florida (which is home to a lot of different types of snakes, but only a handful of venomous ones) and may also be a bit of foreshadowing with regards to identifying what kinds of people to be wary of (many of whom can turn out to be snakes in their own right).

Our story follows Val, a recent ex-con with a take-no-crap attitude, who, after years off the grid, shows up at her old friend Miles’ bar, looking for a job. And not a job as a bartender. Miles tasks Val with finding and killing a woman named Leo, a former employee who stole from him. Val gets to prove herself to the higher ups in the Miami Underworld, Miles gets to project an air of strength and ruthlessness to his enemies… It’s a win-win.

Of course, nothing is ever that simple. Leo isn’t someone who’s easily disposed of. On top of that, she and Val seem to hit it off. Maybe she doesn’t deserve to be killed after all. It’s difficult to say… The story is only just beginning, and the only thing that’s certain thus far is that nothing is what it seems.

This is a great beginning to what looks like it’s going to be a fun and exciting crime thriller, with just a touch of humor thrown in. There’s a host of interesting and generally unsavory characters (each introduced to us with an amusing, descriptive chyron), and there promises to be a fair few more before the story is through. I look forward to meeting them, and to seeing how this dark and venomous comic unfolds.

Creative Team: Stephanie Phillips (written by), Goran Sudžuka (illustrated by), Ive Svorcina (colored by), Tom Napolitano (lettered by)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
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