Why you should read Image's Write It In Blood graphic novel

Post-COVID Lockdown, I took a different approach to comic books.

Throughout my life, I’ve primarily followed Marvel and DC Comics, with the occasional dabbling in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I even enjoyed comics based on licensed franchises such as cartoons during my childhood. 

But after the world opened up again, I felt something was missing. The way I consumed comics began to change.

Where was that excitement to turn the page? Why had I begun to feel less giddy as my eyes darted from panel to panel? The writing and the art were fascinating, but I needed to step outside of this comfort zone I’d lived in. I’ll always be a true believer in truth, justice, and a better tomorrow, but I wanted to step beyond.

I wanted stories that went against the norm. No capes, no cowls, just experiences. Bizarre. Relatable. Gritty. Wholesome. So, I took the dip.

While not the first of the new, non-superhero stories I jumped into, Image’s Write It In Blood (WIIB) series captured me all the same. 

First, an intro to the creative team

Published in February 2021, WIIB combines the efforts of Rory McConville, Joe Palmer, Chris O’Halloran, and Hassan Otsame-Elhaou to create a story that packs a punch in so little time.

McConville, an Irish writer, has written titles like Spawn, Time Before Time, Department K, and 2000 AD as well as telling the story of Big Jim: Jim Larkin and the 1913 Lockout, a historical re-telling of James Larkin’s mission to garner support for Irish workers across the pond in the United Kingdom.

Palmer, an English artist based in London, collaborates regularly with McConville. Illustrating works the likes of Time Before Time, Old Dog, Judge Dredd, and 2000 AD.

O’Halloran, also Irish, colored the series, as he had done for Marvel’s Immortal Hulk and Black Panther while adding his visual talents to Hellboy, Time Before Time, and A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance.

Otsame-Elhaou, the British-Algerian letterer, has worked on titles such as X-O Manowar, Undone By Blood, No One’s Rose, and many other independent titles.

I’ve listed all these contributors and their works not only to give them their deserved credit but because these men are not American at all. I’m not sure if they’ve set foot in a single state, let alone Texas. I mean, maybe they might have. I don’t know. I don’t know their lives.

But to create a neo-Western crime story in the hot, dangerous wilds of the Lone Star State, this creative team succeeded.

A story written in blood

Write It In Blood features two brothers: Cosmo and Arthur Pryce. Across the Lone Star State, they escort a hostage named Little Harkness for their mob boss “The Baron”, they plan to retire following this assignment. Well, mostly Cosmo. Arthur, conditioned to the life of a criminal and murderer, doesn’t believe that this finality will be, well, final. Violence runs through their veins.

The way the pair discuss this future, it’s as though they’re finishing one last shift in some office job in a skyscraper. The banter is delivered in such a casual way. Harkness adds to this with his sincere input while he still tries to wriggle, threaten, and bribe his way out in a way that must be read to be enjoyed.

Things go wrong for the brothers, as Arthur’s recklessness catches up to them. Readers learn about these transgressions as Cosmo does, adding to his comical frustration. It’s one thing after another as he and Arthur struggle to survive. And it doesn’t let up.

I won’t give any spoilers, because each predicament raises hilarity, stakes, and anxiety that readers need to witness for themselves.

But why should you read Write It In Blood?

Though the action-packed and witty nature of the story keeps things moving at a quick pace, there’s a lot of character in the spaces between. They fill the moments between panels, where events are allowed to breathe. Retrospection; introspection; and reflection, for characters and readers. 

Palmer and O’Halloran are a force during these scenes. The body language of every character says so much while saying so little. Even minor characters are memorable. It wasn’t until a reread later that I soaked it in—I’m a fast comic book reader, speeding through each panel. Taking this slower approach, I appreciated what went into the art where I allowed myself to wonder what was going through everyone’s minds and take in what was being said without verbal communication.

Together, their art paints breathtaking scenery. Detail just oozes through the environment, giving each location an air of life. yet the style is simple enough to command attention without being overwhelming. Spreads of landscapes spotlight highways and deserts on the Texas horizon, desolate and wide. Going back to WIIB, I spent far too much time observing every crevice, every grain of sand, every facial feature.

As for McConville’s writing, the Pryce brothers’ struggle for survival is told in a way complimentary to the art—simple, yet detailed. Every character, even the most minor ones feels independent from others. No one is too similar to others. Otsame-Elhaou’s lettering accentuates McConville’s words, imbuing readers with scannable speech bubbles to better sense the emotion in a character’s voice. If someone yells, you feel it. If someone is pleading, you feel it.

What I take away from WIIB is that less is more. When I researched the graphic novel, I came across a brilliant review by Greg Burgas from his Atomic Junk Shop article “Review time! with ‘Write It In Blood’” (which you should read), where he states that the jobs that the Pryce brothers and The Baron do aren’t specified. 

While Burgas states this as a minor critique, and while I halfway agree, my hot take is that it kind of adds to the story. People are left in the dark, with control far out of their grasp. At the end of all that is there’s this bleak stillness that comes out of the end of survival. And sometimes there aren’t any answers.

There might not be that fulfillment at the end of a career where the job is all you know. There might not be any knowing if there’s a home with a family and a comfortable twilight years of your life. 

Why stories like Write It In Blood matter

Write It In Blood is a comedy and a tragedy. Hi-jinks amid bloodshed. It’s as though the Coen Brothers directed No Country for Old Men with their added signature humor. Simultaneously fun yet depressing. 

What this team at Image accomplished is a feeling I chase to this day when I venture away from the Supermans and X-Men and go into the visions of people who dare to think outside the box. The greats of comic book history did as much, chasing visions that paved the way for others. 

It’s how Milestone Comics gave minorities a way to find representation authentically with characters like Static (or Static Shock for fans of the Kids WB! animated series). It’s how Art Spiegelman recanted the horrors of the past that shaped his father after World War II in Maus and Maus II. 

The legacy of comics will always lie in voices big and small. At the end of the day, these stories within the panels are inked with a passion that is written in their blood.