Bobby Jo #1 is a comic written by Scott Wilke with art and colors by Michael Mayne and letters and design by Dave Lentz. Out in rural Appalachia one woman is at the forefront of the battle between humans and extra-terrestrials. This is a comic with heaps of violence, a number of strange creatures, and heavy accents. Our leading lady is Bobby Jo, a no-nonsense woman who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes to getting rid of these aliens. She lives with her father at a scrapyard and seems to be well-liked. The plot focuses on both the alien threat and the life of Bobby Jo. You’ll get the feeling during the encounter with the alien that this isn’t the first time Bobby Jo has dealt with this. This takes place in a small town complete with that “everybody knows everybody” vibe. The acting here is bloody and gory with some dismemberment occurring. The pacing here is great as we get equal parts of each aspect of this story. Things do get intense here and there is an underling feeling of fear and dread as there is some wariness about the aliens. The dialogue has some very heavy southern drawl which will make people from those areas feel at home. No wordy pages to be found here. This is an exciting debut comic with some great action, a strong lead, and a story that’ll have you intrigued.

            This is drawn in a very detailed style that sort of hearkens back to older comics and has some realistic coloring. The various locations are set up in a way that makes them feel familiar, especially if you’ve lived in the southern US and/or Appalachia. This is a rustic environment so things look a bit beat up and rough which just adds to this rural atmosphere. The expression level here is about average as we don’t get too many different looks but the potential here is strong. The faces are drawn with a high amount of detail from the eyes to the teeth. Most of the emotions we’ll see tend to be on the aggressive side with anger and determination being the main ones. The creatures we’ll see here look a bit like animals but with some extra parts. The main weapon of choice for Bobby Jo is a shotgun. The combat scenes are very gory and destructive with everything being easy to follow. You shouldn’t get lost during these fights. Bobby Jo does wear a cutoff shirt and some Daisy Dukes for most of this issue.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like stories taking place in a rural area starring a very determined woman and dealing with aliens in a story full of violence then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, gore, nudity.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“That’s why it done chaps my hide when ya come here, actin’ a right fool…”

 

Physical Link: https://badbugmedia.com/product/bobby-jo-and-the-appalachian-alien-apocalypse-1/

Digital Link: https://badbugmedia.com/product/bobby-jo-and-the-appalachian-alien-apocalypse-1-digital/

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bobbyjo/bobby-jo-and-the-appalachian-alien-apocalypse/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 8, for 33% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 6, for 25% 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 – 2

“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 – 3

“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.”