Bordertown 2 cover - cropped Reviews 

“Border Town” #2

By | October 5th, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

“Border Town” is just getting started, but with an outstanding series premise, rock-solid story structure and a diverse, highly relatable cast, this series clearly has legs. (Warning: contains minor spoilers.)

Cover by Ramon Villalobos
Written by Eric M. Esquivel
Illustrated by Ramon Villalobos
Colored by Tamra Bonvillain
Lettered by Deron Bennett

After barely surviving a supernatural showdown at Jack in the Box, the kids regroup over nachos to debate what to do when your town is overrun by monsters of myth. Frank’s freaked and wants to go to the cops! Julietta can’t because her family’s undocumented. Aimi wants to know the secrets of the underworld! And Quinteh might just be hungry. Meanwhile, El Chupacabra crosses the border between worlds, bringing with him an unspeakably terrifying force to Devil’s Fork.

“Archie” #699 dropped this week. I point this out only because, after two installments, I like to imagine a world in which “Border Town” eventually hits 699 issues. Also, on the surface at least, the books aren’t too dissimilar.

Both feature a teenage cast with four main characters, two male and two female. Both take place in backwater towns, Riverdale and Devil’s Fork. Both include scenes in restaurants with the characters packed into a booth discussing the day’s events. There’s even a direct analog between Jughead, who’s mainly there for the burgers, and Quinteh, who’s mostly there for the nachos. Beyond that, however, the books start to diverge. Only one of them, for example, features a crack in the border between worlds through which supernatural creatures can pass. (Actually, now that I say that, with all the “Archie” spinoffs out there, I can’t be certain that’s true.)

In any case, comparisons to other series aside, “Border Town” is a fine book in its own right. With well imagined, relatable characters; a simple but intriguing premise; and outstanding character designs, this series clearly has legs. And it’s not just the overall concept. Writer Eric M. Esquivel and the rest of his creative team clearly know how to craft a rock solid issue. The debut started strong, but this issue picks up the pace.

“Border Town” #2 starts with a three page flashback. In it, we learn why the socially awkward, lovable lunk known as Quniteh wears the wrestling mask of El Diablo Verde wherever he goes. It’s an interesting bit of backstory, with references to his Kiowa ancestry, but it also underscores one of the book’s key themes: the ongoing struggle to break free from the “tyranny” of one’s own personality. Interestingly, this point isn’t made through narration or interior monologue, as is often the case with such weighty issues. Rather, it comes out organically, in dialogue spoken by Quinteh’s mother. It may be one of the first, but it’s definitely not the only example Esquivel deftly infusing conversations with pointed social commentary.

A few pages later, for example, as the teens debate what to do about the potential alien visitor they think they’ve just seen, Julietta plainly states, “Armed militias, fascist I.C.E. agents, head-lopping drug cartel gangsters, fucking brown recluse spiders . . . that thing isn’t any more dangerous that what’s already out there. What’s one more monster?” And she makes an excellent point. As an undocumented “alien” herself, her daily life is constantly fraught with seen and unseen threats to her very presence in this country from seemingly all directions. She’s not being melodramatic, she’s just telling it like it is – a wonderful example of how Esquivel injects socio-political commentary without ever getting preachy or slowing down the action. Instead, the dialogue evolves naturally, flowing from the characters’ well defined personalities and lived experiences.

Visually, illustrator Ramon Villalobos’s aesthetic tends toward a stylized realism that really shines whenever he shows the various supernatural beings and ghastly creatures from Mictlān, the Aztec Underworld. Mictlāntēcutli in particular (“Lady of the Underworld”), is imaginatively and wonderfully drawn. The hands-down highlight, however, is the glorious two-page spread that depicts a comprehensive rogues’ gallery of supernatural sidekicks and lesser demons who no doubt promise to feature heavily in future issues. In fact, when I look at this splash page, I can’t help but ponder and dream of the vast, untapped potential for endless crossovers and clever team-ups, not to mention how these characters will be woven into this specific series. Seriously, from the nightmarish El Cucuy to the grotesquely comedic Las Pichilingis and Los Duendes, these characters pop off the page and practically scream the word “franchise.”

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Hang onto these two pages. You’ll want to reference them in the future. Go ahead. Tear them out. Tack them on your wall. You could look at them all day.

No doubt, Villalobos’s inks deserve a ton of credit, but colorist Tamra Bonvillain also does a lot to bring the book’s panels to life. Her flashback palette consists of dusty roses and golds reminiscent of sepia tone photographs, whereas her present day scenes in the restaurant are much more colorful, conspicuously built around the heavily saturated green and red Quinteh’s wrestling mask. Juxtaposed next to this, the surreal world of Mictlān almost looks like a black light poster, with eerie violets, magentas and shimmering electric blues standing in stark contrast to garish yellows and sickly pale greens. The border between worlds might be torn and starting to fray, but Bonvillain’s distinct color palettes serve to remind us they’re still separate. At least for a little while longer.

Final Verdict: 8.8 The debut issue was strong, but “Border Town” #2 ups the ante. This series already feels like it might be special.


John Schaidler

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