Bobby Jo and the Appalachian Alien Apocalypse #5 is a comic written by Scott Wilke with art by Marcos Almeida with colors by CF Lum. Bobby Jo and a few others descend upon the spaceship that started all this drama. This is a science fiction comic with that takes place in Appalachia with gun-toting women, large violent aliens, and advanced technology. The leading lady here is Bobby Jo, she is a woman with a pet alien who spends her time hunting evil extra-terrestrials around her town. She is a very determined, reckless, and somewhat deadpan person who will fight hard to defend her family and friends. Merle is her pet alien that has a dog-like form most of the time but they can transform into a large creature that sort of looks like the Behemoth from Final Fantasy III(3D Version). Hobbes is the Sheriff of Humming Rock who has a crush on Bobby Jo and is always willing to back her up even when she makes hasty and dangerous plays. This story begins where the last issue ended with Bobby Jo, Merle, and Hobbes staring at a buried alien ship. As Bobby Jo and Hobbes comment on the condition of the vessel they are interrupted by the appearance of spiny lizard-like aliens, and a fight ensues. This takes place in what appears to be the 1970’s in a very rural Appalachian mining town. The action here is explosive, destructive, bloody, and gory with limbs everywhere. This moves at a steady pace with some slower moments as there can be a lot to take in. The tone here is that of a big final battle in a sci-fi movie with many of the standard hallmarks. This is very violently intense but there are a number of dramatically stirring bits. The dialogue here is conversational and full of slang, sayings, shortened words, and people speak with a talking style common to this region. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is a riveting and thrilling final issue that has explosive violence, heartwarming moments, and startling revelations, and strong characters; these all combine to give a satisfying conclusion to this tale of rural alien invasion.
The art here is drawn in a detailed modern style with thickish outlines and decent lighting and shading. Most of the colors here are of a tannish-pink or silvery-gray with most of the vibrant tones coming from human characters/creations. For scenery we have cold gray caverns, mountains, and thick forests. There are two main locations here and both of them are spaceships; the interiors and exteriors are explored. Backgrounds are split between being a gradient color and showing the actual, usually cold and metallic surroundings. The expression level here is high as these characters frequently react to what is going on. Emotions shown are usually aggressive from anger to fury but there are moments of happiness and some somber looks. Faces here have a high amount of detail which leads to clear and strong expressions. Firearms that shoot lasers are the main weapon of choice though some of the aliens like to get physical. The violence here is very gory and bloody with limbs, guts, and bodies everywhere. There are three major action scenes and they tend to consist of wide rectangular panels with an unconfusing flow and large moments intended to draw your focus. The ladies in this comic are curvy with large breasts and they wear revealing outfits.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like science fiction stories that take place in the 1970’s and star redheaded Appalachian women(and men) going up against aliens and features heavy gruesome violence and a bit of drama then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, gore, lewdness, nudity.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“You got us movin’ slower than molasses in January!”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/williamtener/bobby-jo-1-5-the-grindhouse-sci-fi-series-finale/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 31
Violent Pages: 9, for 29% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 5
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 4
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 2
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
