Crude Vol. 1

Crude Vol. 1
Steve Orlando, writer/creator; Garry Brown, artist/creator; Lee Loughridge, colorist
Image Comics, 2018

The distinguishing feature of this story is the Russian setting: it's possible to imagine it taking place in a violent working class subculture anywhere, even taking the sexual politics into account. Ex-hitman Piotr Petrovich had a difficult relationship with his son Kiril, compounded by claiming to be an insurance salesman. Kiril also has a secret: he is a closeted bisexual, a dangerous thing to be in Russia. He decides to move to the refinery city Blackstone (where life is hard but the pay is good) in search of freedom. A year later Kiril returns home in a body bag, and Piotr travels to Blackstone for answers. He expects to identify his son's killer and exact revenge, but finds a complex political power struggle instead. Unraveling those threads ends up being the core of the narrative, along with a great deal of violence (it is a violent place). He learns many surprising things about his son. In the end he accepts his son's sexuality, and admires his leadership in Blackstone. But he declines the offer to stay and contribute to the revolution. Which certainly looks like the end of the story, despite the labeling as Volume 1. Brown's art excels at illustrating the violent action, but is also effective at portraying a variety of facial expressions. His backgrounds tend to be plain, but can also set a scene: there are two splash pages of Blackstone when Piotr first arrives that are especially effective. Despite the twists and turns at the climax it is ultimately a standard revenge story (albeit with LGBTQ elements).

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