Bobby Jo #2 is a comic written by Scott Wilke with art and colors by Michael Mayne and letters and design by Dave Lentz. More alien spaceships land in and around the town of Humming Rock and the people are on edge. This is science fiction story with pop culture references and big fights and this all takes place in Appalachia. Our leading lady is Bobby Jo, a woman skilled in getting rid of these invading aliens. With her is Sheriff Hobbes, the head lawman around these parts who is forced into action after all these landings. Also with Bobby Jo is Merle, a pet alien who isn’t evil and wreaking havoc like the others. The story sees this trio rushing to one of the landing sites of the spaceships and while they are heading there we get a glimpse of how other people in the town are reacting to these events. The overall themes here are invasion and survival with an air of desperation. The action here is bloody, gory, with body parts ending up in different places. The pace is steady but speeds up when things get violent. This comic starts off at a heightened level and only gets higher and the tone is stressful and wary. The dialogue is very Southern/Appalachian so you might end up reading it with an accent. A couple pages are a bit word heavy. This is an entertaining follow-up that gives us a wider look at the world along with some character development, while still providing us with some alien-involved violence.

            The art style here is reminiscent of comics from the 70’s but it has a softer, more detailed look to it. The colors here are well-shaded and tend to lean towards realism. The scenery here is lush greenery, plenty of trees, and a clear blue sky. The overall atmosphere is rural and small town with the little things you see acting as proof of that. While the location changes a few times it all takes place outdoors. A good amount of the backgrounds in the smaller panels contain scene elements in them which helps the characters seem grounded in the story. The expression level here is around average as Hobbes is a gruff cop and Bobby Jo can go from a bit silly to serious in an instant. The faces are well-drawn with little things like stress lines and scars so every look comes across well. The alien here look a bit insect-like but not nearly as small. The action scenes have length and get bloody and gory. There are high panel counts during these altercations so we get to see things from multiple angles.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like stories starring a woman taking place in the rural US with aliens and violence throughout then this is for you.

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

R. Gore aplenty.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Don’tcha got somethin’ with some balls?”

 

Physical Link: https://badbugmedia.com/product/bobby-jo-and-the-appalachian-alien-apocalypse-2-michael-mayne-variant/

Digital Link: https://badbugmedia.com/product/bobby-jo-and-the-appalachian-alien-apocalypse-2-digital/

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bobbyjo/bobby-jo-2-a-sexy-grindhouse-action-sci-fi-comic-series/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: 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 – 1

“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.”