Vigilante: Southland

Vigilante: Southland #1-6

by Gary Phillips (Writer), Elana Casagrande (Artist), Giulia Brusco (Colourist)

The classic DC character Vigilante is reborn for a new generation!
A new take on the DC character the Vigilante, reimagined by crime novelist Gary Phillips (Perdition U.S.A.). Vigilante: Southland takes place on the seemy backstreets of Los Angeles, far from the glitz of Hollywood. Donny Fairchild is getting by as a maintenance man after a failed bid at an basketball career. After a loved one is killed and he is left for dead, Donny is determined to bring the killers to justice and decides to stop just getting by and undergoes training to become a masked vigilante.
A new series with socially relevant undertones, Vigilante: SouthlandVigilante: Southland updates the New Teen Titans character for this new century.

Collecting: Vigilante: Southland 1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Dc Comics, Superheroes

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2017

About the author

GARY PHILLIPS has been a community activist, labor organizer and delivered dog cages. He’s published various novels, comics, short stories and edited several anthologies including South Central Noir and the Anthony award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Violent Spring, first published in 1994 was named in 2020 one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was also a writer/co-producer on FX’s Snowfall (streaming on Hulu), about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central where he grew up. Recent novels include One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem. He lives with his family in the wilds of Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brand new take on the Teen Titans character from the 80's. Set in South Central, a washed up basketball player takes over the Vigilante suit when his girlfriend was murdered. Some of it I liked, like how everyone knew who the Vigilante was from his voice. But the plot was a whole bunch of nonsense and there was no logical progression in the detective aspect of the story. Things would just happen randomly instead of actually discovering clues. Which is kind of unforgivable considering Gary Phillips writes crime fiction.

[Jarrett McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is okay it's not the worst, but it's definitely the greatest either

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Vigilante: Southland #1' by Gary Phillips caught my eye based on the description, but I should have probably kept on looking. This book is kind of a mess.

Donny is an ex-athlete who spends his days shooting hoops and getting high. His girlfriend Dorrie is more politically active and tries to get Donny involved. He doesn't get involved in time to help her, and now he's trying to find out what happened to her along with his estranged father. He finds out something about her that may help him in his fight for justice.

And it's a big mess. The plot kind of jumps around. The racial stereotypes abound. The whole thing feels like it could have been written in the 1990s. It feels that dated. The art isn't bad, and I was hoping it would deliver more based on the premise, but I was wrong, and I'm disappointed.

I received a review copy of this issue from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this issue.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how long it's been since DC has done a Vegilante solo book. I assume a decade or more. I must say I found this a bit underwhelming, and a bit slow. I didn't really get hooked or overly interested. But it wasn't a bad comic overall. I recommend this any Vigilante fans out there.
Just to see what you think of this incarnation.

I received an advanced copy of this from NetGalley.com and the publisher.

[mike andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good opening book to the mini series

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know other readers will disagree with me, and obviously so does the publisher, but this is a strong crime read with mildly nuanced characters (given the length of the tale). Phillips was shortchanged by DC when they didn't publish the last six floppies, but it does read better as a TPB.

Phillips was given the old Vigilante character to work with. That is the only item old about this story. Both Donny and his father are far from cardboard characters. Donny is a former college, and overseas professional, basketball player, marking time as a janitor and pot smoker. The suspicious death of Dorrie, his girlfriend, draws him into the timely discussion of gentrification, social justice, and how much right one person can do.

Donny is estranged from his father, small time criminal and owner of a pot club, but his father gets involved for some of the same reasons Donny does. Add to it Eric, the father, is portrayed as neither good nor evil, but as someone who has chosen to survive by walking that very fine line.

This is a very well paced story, and one I fell comfortable to recommending to you if you 1) enjoy comics 2) enjoy crime stories, 3) enjoy characters who grow on your quickly.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 6 book mini series is a reimagining of the character who was first introduced in the 1980's by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. The new Vigilante is a former Basketball Player named Donny Fairchild who decides to become the new Vigilante after his Girlfriend has been murdered with the help of his Girlfriend's mother and a former Crime Fighter now wheelchair bound.

The book also addresses the issue of Race and Gentrification that affects both Poor and Communities of Color throughout the US from California to New York. Crime Novelist Gary Phillips including the issue of Immigration which is a hot water topic as well.

The art by Tony Daniel is clear and sharp and helps with the story. I loved the story because it shows that People of Color can also be heroes and not labelled "Social Justice Warrior". This character is different and far from that label. I would love to see more stories from this character and the reimagining is better than the original.

Since its the start of the Summer, its a must read for your to read books.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off strong, but the ending was on the weak side. That said, I would definitely read a follow-up if written by Phillips and drawn by Casagrande and if it were released as an original graphic novel.

[Charles Eldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that needed more issues. Great premise. I would have loved to get to know the characters and motivations in a deeper more meaningful way. Yet the story is rushed to action set prices that seem highly improbably and undermine what could have been a great story. Art is good.

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this character so boring in the 80's but was pleasantly surprised that this version actually worked.

[J.R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Um..........I think there may have been a decent story somewhere but it never actually happens.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the story could have been a lot tighter, I really enjoyed reading this new incarnation of the Vigilante. Hope DC can find room for more stories about him.

[Gerard · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine, almost good. Felt rushed for sure.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was suuuureeee different from the 80s series. If you have younger readers,there’s some gory and looots of swearing going on.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not the classic style comic book but i really enjoyed it.Didnt take long at all for the story to get going.