Written by Bryan Hill
Illustrated by Leandro Fernandez
Published by DC Comics
I had no idea this was even coming out. But man, what a great book! Bryan Hill has proven himself to be a solid writer especially over the past year and this is another feather in his cap. I was enthralled from the very first page and it did not let up.
The opening scene takes place at FBI Headquarters in Los Angeles. Agent Curry is being interviewed about a horrific crime. We then see some of what she is recounting. It’s some of the most racist and awful criminal acts ever seen on a comic book page.
Fernandez draws it with class and it makes an impact rather than just being shocking. Agent Curry keeps recounting her story and it ends in a way that I didn’t see coming. A fellow FBI agent is then murdered at the end of her sordid tale in a very brutal way.
From there, we are introduced to FBI Agent Richard Wright. He is one of those classic disgraced FBI Agents. We first see him in a terrible apartment waking up and doing cocaine. He is then visited by Agent Curry and she tells him what she wants him to do.
And it’s a pretty horrifying thing. Right here? I was hooked for the rest of the book.
Apparently, she wants him to go undercover into the white supremacist groups she thinks is responsible for the heinous crimes shown at the beginning of the book. And so he does. Agent Wright shows up at a cafe and he meets a woman. He tells her he’s off drugs and says nobody wants to help a white man get off his feet. She writes down a number and then off we go.
Bryan Hill doesn’t shy away from the difficult moments here. He just bravely dives in and goes for it. It’s incredible. He works so well with Fernandez that it’s all seamless. They are to be commended for creating this book.
It eventually ends in a terrifying cliffhanger. The last line of the book is “Welcome to Real America.” Its pretty shocking where we end up at the end of the issue. It’s even more shocking that it reads true, with not a false note anywhere.
RATING: A
