Warning: SPOILERS for Border Town #1
Vertigo Comics has kicked off the relaunch of their brand with Border Town - an intensely controversial comic whose racially-charged premise tackles the tensions along America's border with Mexico head-on. Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, Border Town may be the most sharply satirical work that Vertigo Comics has published since Preacher. Not bad for a first issue.
Set in the fictional town of Devil's Fork, Arizona, the action of Border Town centers upon Frank Dominguez - a troubled teenager who was forcibly relocated to the small town after his mother decided to move in with her latest boyfriend. Soon Frank finds himself running afoul of the local gang of teenage skinheads, before the greater dangers of Devil's Fork begin to rear their heads (and teeth). The boundary between this world and the next is growing thinner out in the desert, and for monsters who take the form of a person's greatest fear... they have no shortage of choices.
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The first issue establishes the main characters and its premise, with Frank befriending some of the other outcast teenagers of Devil's Fork. The early synopsis reveals that Frank and his new friends will soon be the only ones who can stop the monsters in the desert, whose murderous rampages are written off by the local authorities as the work of illegal aliens.
This, coupled with the idea of depicting corrupt and/or incompetent police has drawn the ire of various political groups, prompting promises of boycotts as well as death threats against Border Town's writer Eric M. Esquivel. It has also inspired many to write the series off as intentionally courting controversy to hide the similarities to Stephen King's IT (just set in Arizona).
While many horror stories are built around the concept of young people having to fight a threat their elders refuse to acknowledge, it does Border Town a disservice to dismiss it as a southwestern-themed Stranger Things. The first issue sports a sharply comedic edge that attacks everyone who allows the fear of the unknown to control their lives. Much of the humor of the book comes from seeing the outrageous forms the monsters take on, with racist militiamen being torn apart by a figure who resembles The Incredible Hulk in a sombrero, and one woman seeing the giant creature as a neo-Nazi preppie with a Tiki-torch.
It won't take readers long to see how Border Town invites comparison to the original Preacher comics, embracing a similar over-the-top approach, and using dark humor to address current events - a feat the Preacher TV show embraces as well.
All questions of politics and originality aside, it seems likely that Border Town will get people talking about what else is in store for Vertigo Comics' relaunch. The mature readers' imprint of DC Comics was first founded in 1993 to give the company's titles aimed at adult readers more freedom, and the ability to operate outside the confines of the Comics Code Authority (which governed the content and distribution of most US comics at the time).
Vertigo's relaunch, timed to coincide with their 25th anniversary, will see the release of six more new series inspired by the original Vertigo mandate to create topical, thought-provoking works of comic art. And if Border Town is a sign of how fearlessly they're swinging, they have our attention.
Border Town #1 is now available from Vertigo Comics.
More: Vertigo Comics Returns To Its Roots With A Line-Wide Relaunch
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