Red Before Black

by Stephanie Phillips, Goran Sudžuka (Artist), Ive Svorcina (Colorist)

RED BEFORE BLACK is a violent, hyper kinetic, women-led Florida crime thriller in the tradition of 2000s-era Vertigo from Grim’s superstar writer Stephanie Phillips, the acclaimed and beloved artist Goran Sudžuka (Hellblazer, Y: The Last Man), colorist Ive Svorcina (Thor: God of Thunder, Secret Wars), and letterer Tom Napolitano (Grim, Justice League). Coming to BOOM! Studios in August 2024.

A disgraced army veteran, Val, arrives in everyone’s favorite state: Florida. Her goal? Hunt down an infamous drug runner named Leo. But soon she finds that the pair have an unexpected enemy in common, turning the time-honored game of cat and mouse into something far more sinister!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

160 pages, Paperback

Published December 16, 2025

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, action-packed, quick to read, and the main characters here are great. It gets kinda trippy at times in its depiction of PTSD, which is cool.

The art is great and the colors are gorgeous at times. I enjoyed the writing a lot, and honestly, even though this wraps itself up neatly in a single graphic novel, I kinda wish it was a longer series because Val and Leo make a great duo.

Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for the review copy!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Stephanie Phillips' style of writing; her characters sound pretty realistic, and the pacing moves quick. But I think her plotting still needs work, as the threads never fully connect for me, often feeling a little too "What?" half the time.

Saying that, this story was fun. The focus is on two volatile women: Val, a disgraced and trauma-ridden army veteran recently released from prison and recruited to hunt down drug runner Leo. I really liked Val. An army veteran obviously dealing with some deep fucked up PTSD. I also liked Leo, who is a screw-up, but a very relatable and understandable one thanks to her piece of shit abusive rapist father. The seemingly straightforward cat-and-mouse hunt takes a sharp turn when the two discover a powerful common enemy, forcing them into an unlikely and dangerous partnership for survival.

Overall, this blood-soaked adventure with its dark, twisted, fuckedup, almost road trip feel is only going to end one of two ways. I didn't love the ending, but I liked the overall adventure, even if things sometimes happen a little too "What?" half the time. Still a 3 out of 5.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Selling Pitch:
A romp of a crime thriller graphic novel.

Pre-reading:
Alrighty, let’s blitz through some graphic novel arcs. I love the snake on the cover.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Ha, I like the deadpan captioning.

She reminds me of the blonde girl from Ozark.

I love smutty audiobooks. This is great!

The poses are so dynamic, and this is genuinely funny.

This is so funny!

Poor Leo.

What do you mean? The end?
Where's more?

Post-reading:
My only real complaint is that it ended so abruptly! The characters were likable, it was well-paced, and it was genuinely funny. The art was appealing and dynamic. I would've taken a whole series of them being an undercover duo for the FBI.

Who should read this:
Campy action fans
Crime drama fans
Ozark fans

Ideal reading time:
Florida books are summer books.

Do I want to reread this:
Yes

Would I buy this:
Yes

Similar books:
* The Voice Said Kill by Simon Spurrier-graphic novel, thriller, swamp gothic
* Mama Came Callin’ by Ezra Claytan Daniels-graphic novel, thriller, family drama
* Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez-swamp gothic, psychological horror, queer
* We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us-graphic novel, campy thriller, family drama

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Red Before Black” is a wild ride of a graphic novel for adults.

Since it’s a graphic novel, let’s talk about art. Goran Sudzuka is the artist. The art is crisp and clean. There is so much detail on every page to soak in. It was easy to get soaked into each panel and then remember, “Oh yeah, I need to read the words.” In many cases, you could have done without words because it is so well drawn, you could have inferred what was being said.

The story is a crazy tale of two women that end up in an extremely uneasy partnership in a world of really bad guys. There is one page where it compares their lives, one on each side of the page, panel compared to panel. Brilliantly done!

The story has humor, a lot of cussing, female nudity in a shower scene in prison, and killing. Lots of killing. Remember my first sentence? This is for adults.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Rhiley Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

What. A. Rollercoaster.
I adored the relationship between Val and Leo and how complicated and gritty it was but how sincere it became. The story goes back in time a lot to further the current storyline and it only strengthened the dynamic between Val and Leo and how interconnected the two of them really are as people and their personalities/lives.
The art style fit the story! Moody with diverse characters and a neutral-ish color palette. I think it worked well with how thrilling it all was. Especially when you add the supernatural elements.
I'm hoping for more! I really want to see if that was the ending or if we'll get more out of this because it really could go any which way at this point.

Thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Red Before Black" is a tense, gritty and action packed crime drama with two compelling and perfectly mis-matched female protagonists. For the most part this is a great read and the tension and banter between the protagonists is near perfect. Also, the book's setting in Florida is well leveraged and it really leans into the "Florida Man" vibe. There are even a few gratuitous gators for yucks. The addition of moderate fantasy elements works well too. However, the book actually covers very little territory and ends just when the story is ready to take off. So what there is of this book is good, there just is not enough of it.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Boom! Studios, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Jeremy Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grief, Trauma, and Crocs!

Prepare for a wild and twisted romp! Red Before Black by Stephanie Phillips drops you into a world where trauma and survival grind against each other. And it is a PAINFUL FEELING AT TIMES! This follows Val, a haunted vet, and Leo, a reckless drug runner, as their paths collide in the kind of chaos only Florida can breed. The pacing is brutal in the best way, and Goran Sudžuka’s art matches it beat for beat, slick, grimy, and gorgeous. It’s crime noir with heart and tenderness. It is equal parts grit and ghost story, and by the end, you can practically taste the salt, blood, and regret in the air. And the end?!? You’ll never see it coming!

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie Phillips's penchant for creating f'd up characters works well for this series. It takes place in Florida and has a bit of a Florida Man vibe to it, but with female protagonists. Val is ex-military and never fully recovered from the trauma of war. She's trying to get in with an old war buddy who is now a criminal. Leo is self-sabotaging and just stole a bunch of coke from Val's new boss and is trying to resell it. Through circumstances the two women end up on the run and I'll let you read the rest from there. It's good stuff and the rare miniseries that doesn't really leave you hanging in hopes of a sequel.

[Lila Danisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a mess! Beautifully messy this one was!!

This book was awkwardly funny. Like a satire, an awkward one. I had moments where I wanted to laugh out loud for the antics of the characters and the story, but I didn't think those were appropriate to laugh to.

Heavy subjects were discussed here. Trauma, PTSD, self-harm, gore, pedophile, and other dark subjects. Though all of them got wrapped simply in one weird awkward storyline.

The illustrations were good. Fit with the grittiness of the story.

Thank you to Stephanie Phillips, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Sudzuka's art. here they seem to have tried to use even less lines than usual. it looks great. colours are also really nice.

story is criminal ex soldier comes back into thw fold of criminal organisation.
it has subversions with working with abd against fbi. discovery of deception. teaming up with assigned target.

the issues felt thick but resd so quickly. it was fun abd interesting.

[frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable art style and a premise that delivers.

Red before black is a fun read that will enthrall you from start to finish with no shortage of gore of beautiful visual metaphors.

I would pick up the trade at my lcs

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool art & fun story. Wish it was longer

[luisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM!Studios for gifting me this ARC!
⭐ 2.5

Val and Leo are two women with deep scars and haunting pasts. After angering one too many people, they start their escape – running through Florida, fighting their own demons and the men trying to end them.

This is a very quick, very fast paced comic with dark colors (and themes) and some supernatural-ish elements. I don't really understand the connection between the characters/story with the snakes, though. Yeah, it was a saying from Val's youth but even so... Having it being the books title and whole concept overall and then just not really addressing it... I don't know, the snakes would show up here and there but nothing too memorable or important. The story is too short and has an open ending. I would've liked to see more of Val and Leo's dynamic – it's really interesting and entertaining. They both have this instinctive need to protect each other that is really endearing. However, like I said, everything happens too fast and is too shallow, too many things are left unexplored and it makes the story feel disconnected. For such a short story, there were a lot of characters and subplots.

I don't like veterans' stories (and this is one, Val being one and it being sort of a central part of the story)... I think they're long overdue and boring. Like, there are other traumatic stuff that can happen to your characters, you know? There's no need to make them a soldier. So, that's a con for me.

What I do like is stories about women messed-up in the head lol – women that are inconsequent and dangerous and intense. Val and Leo are all of those times two. I really appreciate whenever this kind of genre focuses on the perspective of women, when it's about them, when they're the main characters. That's a pro for me. Also, it was rather funny, Leo especially.

Overall, this is an okay book. A quick, action-packed, interesting read to pass the time with pretty, superhero-comic-book-style illustrations. I would've liked if it was longer and better developed. The "supernatural" aspects, most of all, should've been more explored,



TW: graphic violence, death, murder, child abuse (mentioned), sexual abuse (mentioned), mental illness, guns, blood, partial nudity.