Phil And Evil’s Shocking Past Is Revealed In Redneck #10

With the Bowman clan otherwise occupied, their human familiars Phil and Evil take the wheel, fighting federal agents and vampires alike, all in the name of family.

If you’ve been reading Redneck from the beginning, there have been two characters who play a huge role in the Bowman saga that we really don’t know a hell of a lot about. The family’s familiars, Big Phil and the mysteriously silent Evil, are the major players in chapter 10. Bartlett is still chained up in the basement. Perry is drugged up and weak, laid up on the table where Padre Landry left her. The boys are under armed guard upstairs, and Phil is in custody. That leaves Evil as the clan’s only hope to survive.

Donny Cates spends most of this chapter giving us a history lesson from Phil’s perspective about how Phil, Evil, the Bowmans, and the Landrys are all connected. Cates has put some serious thought and planning into each principal and secondary character, their interactions and personal history. The reveals are well planned and brilliantly paced.

I’ve been a fan of Lisandro Estherren’s artwork since this series began. All the stuff he’s been hitting throughout the series continues to hit in this chapter. One of the things I noticed in this mostly flashback issue is how he dialed back the ages of the Bowmans, the Landrys, and the familiars. There’s a really cool visual connection between the characters’ former selves, and who they’ve become.
Every month, I keep saying this is the issue not to miss, and every month it’s true. Redneck keeps getting better with every installment. There’s way more depth in each chapter than I ever expect, and every time I think I have this thing figured out, Cates and Co. flip a 180 and catch me out.

Redneck #10, published by Skybound Entertainment/Image Comics, released 28 Feb 2018. Written by Donny Cates, art by Lisandro Estherren, color by Dee Cunniffe, letters by Joe Sabino, cover by Nick Pitarra.