Southside #2

Southside #2

Advent Comics 2021

Written by Tony Kittrell

Illustrated by Chepe Rios

Coloured by PH Fuller

Lettered by Lettersquids

Malone knows who killed his friend and nothing will stop him from getting revenge...he goes to WAR!

Don’t be sleeping on Advent Comics just because they are a company where people of colour take centre stage. Sure there is some language within these pages that if I were to use i’d be labeled a racist but then again in my communities there are similar words and phrases that have the same effect, meaning it’s okay within our own communities but not by outsiders. So don’t be afraid to visit a culture that’s not yours just respect it and enjoy it for what it is because this is a very intelligently written story underneath all the violence and swearing. This is a very adult title with naked women, alas no men, and drug use and it represents two very polar opposite types of folks and the tension this brings to the story is actually incredibly well represented and it makes me want to see more. Seeing more is ultimately what the story is supposed to leave the reader feeling and this does that in some wonderful ways.

I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. I really appreciate seeing Malone walking through the neighbourhood and noticing that it has gone from he calls “chocolate city” to a “skittles town” and that is an interesting take on what others would call gentrification. The character development is interesting and I say this because I understand the anger in Malone after having someone close to him murdered but I’m also hoping we don’t only see the angry black man angle take over. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story while also introducing us to new characters is handled extremely well.

The way that we see this being structured and the layers within the story continuing from last issue and new ones emerging it really does wonders to help everything move constantly forward. The way that we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is really rather delightful.

The interiors here are beautifully rendered. The linework that we see is amazing and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this quality in the detail work is astounding. From faces and facial expression to body language that helps further the characterisation to the unexpected moment like seeing a hand snapping a pic on a phone the way we see this detail work is stunning. That backgrounds are important to the story makes me happy and how they work within the composition within the panels bing us some great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a really interesting and talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is truly amazing. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows and eye for how to utilise colour incredibly effectively. Seeing how light sources cast colour changes and that those colours are unexpected hues and yet are exactly what they should be is pretty spectacular.

Hyper violent and yet this is set in a world that suits it with a wide array of interesting characters with strong personalities who like to play things fast and loose. This is an intelligently written book with great characterisation and decidedly unique approach to the idea of an urban vigilante.

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