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Redlands #1-6

Redlands, Vol. 1

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A mysterious and bloodthirsty matriarchal force runs the town of Redlands, Florida, and in order to stay on top sacrifices must be made. Someone is intent on removing these women from the top of the food chain, and he's ready to unleash their darkest secret but has seriously underestimated the lengths the townspeople will go to protect the new order of things.


Inspired by the strange complexities of real world politics and crime, the characters of Redlands play victim and villain, attempting to understand themselves and others, through murder, magic and mayhem.



Collects issues 1 through 6.

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 17, 2018

17 people are currently reading
640 people want to read

About the author

Jordie Bellaire

1,160 books171 followers
Jordie Bellaire is an American comic book colorist and writter who lives in Ireland and works for DC, Marvel, Valiant, and Image comic book publishers. She has colored Pretty Deadly, The Manhattan Projects, Moon Knight, The Vision, Magneto, Nowhere Men, Hawkeye, Batman, among other titles. As a writer, her most famous works are Redlands and the reboot of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Bellaire is credited with starting the "Comics are for everybody" initiative to make the comic book community more inclusive and compassionate.

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5 stars
150 (13%)
4 stars
407 (36%)
3 stars
380 (33%)
2 stars
149 (13%)
1 star
38 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
Profile Image for Donovan.
734 reviews106 followers
February 25, 2018
Commentary on hillbilly justice, racism, and objectification/sexual harassment/rape/prostitution/ in a vague world of witches and demons. Problematic is the complete lack of empathetic characters (especially male) and aimless plot, like a pitch black journey of sadistic self-destruction. There are also too many topics being thrown around, and even the largest theme of female objectification/degradation makes little point except that it’s horrific. And the artwork is also exceedingly rough, sometimes bad or hard to follow.
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,205 followers
April 29, 2018
Uhhh whoa...what?...The...fuck...shit...

Those were my reactions throughout the entire time reading this. Redlands is a horror comic about redneck place in Florida being ran by three witches who aren't going to take shit from anyone. Right away they murderer a bunch of racist cops and decide to take over the town of Redland. Then we get into a political thriller, mystery, and witchy witch magic shit that is both intriguing and batshit insane.

Good: So I really enjoyed the pacing. One thing I will say is it is NEVER boring. I also think the dialog alot of the time is pretty fun. Sure, very very racist and sexist but that's a huge selling point to the series. Also some of the twist, the gore, the fights, all pretty well done and kind of scary.

Bad: While most of the dialog is entertaining some of it feels very forced. Also the story is jumbled at times, a bit confusing. And last but not least I was not a huge fan of the art. Sometimes it's great, with effects of fire and such, other times people look squashed and really fucking odd.

Overall I enjoyed it enough to want more. It's not perfect, it stumbles at parts, but it's still entertaining as hell. I'll give it another go! A 3 out of 5.
Profile Image for Candice.
100 reviews7 followers
March 22, 2018
Like most first volumes, this is all story setup. You're introduced to characters and shown their situations. It's pretty graphic, both with violence and sex. I was led to believe this was a feminist comic, but I wouldn't put it in that category at all. It's true that all the main characters are strong women, but they're portrayed as violent witches. Sex workers are treated as inhuman, and women are set up as a lot of the problem in this world. I think the idea is that the women aren't the problem, they're trying to *fix* the problems - but their idea of "fixing" involves taking over the police department and sacrificing younger women so they can live. Since comics don't take long to read, I'd be willing to give this another volume, as maybe they're setting it up like this for a reason. But don't expect a feminist comic - expect a graphically violent and sexual comic with OK characters not yet well developed and a somewhat interesting plot.
Profile Image for Cathy .
1,929 reviews294 followers
August 30, 2022
Chapter 1 introduces us to a town in Florida and a failed lynching. The tree burns, the hangman‘s nooses swing empty in the blaze… Witches survive, kill a bunch of people and take over the town. Chapter 2 introduces them some more, there is violence, nudity, pointless swearing and obnoxious male characters. It didn‘t do anything for me, I disliked all of the characters. The art was meh. Not continuing.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,351 reviews281 followers
May 30, 2018
If you're going to write a book about bad people doing bad things to other bad people, you have to throw me some sort of a bone to engage me, be it humor, a charismatic villain, or over-the-top action and/or violence. I found nothing here to draw me in or make me care whether any of the characters lived or died.
Profile Image for Marko Kivimäe.
342 reviews42 followers
January 18, 2021
Veel üks naiste kätetöö selles mehises USA koomiksimaailmas. Redlands on linnake Floridas, mida matrairhaat juhib. Täpsemalt siis pumba juures olev kolmest nõiast koosnev trio, kes maakaid kantseldavad ning vahetevahel enda verejanu kustutavad. Üldiselt olid kõik parajad tõbrased, olenemata soost. Ilmselt on väljend “antikangelane” üsna asjakohane, täpsemalt ongi siis kolm antikangelast. Ehk siis mõistetakse karmikäelist kohut, olles ise nii politsei, kohus kui timukas.

Palju vägivalda, verd ning erinevalt nii mõnestki nähtud koomiksist, paljast pinda. Ausalt üteldes tekkiski vahepeal küsimus, et miks neid paljaid ihusid niipalju on? Mitte, et ma kurdaks, lisaks oli meeldiv ka paljaid mehi näha kuna üldiselt kiputakse alasti naisi näitama küll, alasti mees tähendab reeglina alasti ülakeha. Siin koomiksis igaljuhul millegagi tagasi ei hoita, näeb ka meest täies ilus.

Mitmed arvustajad on heitnud ette tegelaste külmust ja tuimust, et karakterid on väga kahemõõtmelised. Ma olen vist asjadest valesti aru saanud aga mu jaoks kipuvadki ka parimad koomiksid olema… kahemõõtmelised, nagu tegelikult ka. Sest kena graafikaga saab anda edasi meeleolu aga sisukus tuleb enda jaoks ikkagi tekstist. Ning kuna teksti on koomiksis ju teatavasti vähevõitu, siis no mis tegelaskujude süvaarendust siit ikka oodata on? Mu jaoks oli igaljuhul siin üldiselt kõik parlanksis ja paigas, oli piisavalt huvitavat tegevust. Ei olnud otseselt midagi erilist, selline hea hooga loetav värk, mida ilmselt võiks teinekordki üle vaadata.
Profile Image for Valéria..
1,018 reviews37 followers
February 7, 2021
Šupnem recenziu na oba booky naraz: Toto bolo fakt dobré, zaujímavé, krásne krvavé a dobre to ubiehalo. Jediné čo mi robilo zo začiatku trochu problém bolo obľúbiť si hlavné postavy, ale to sa v druhej knihe napravilo. Kresba je taká skicová, ale krásne to pasuje k príbehu. Čo je úplne parádne a neskutočne som si užívala bolo panelovanie. Niektoré stránky boli nádherne rozvrhnuté. Dúfam, že to bude pokračovať lebo po oznámení #13/tretieho booku ani chýtu ani slychu.. 4/5
Profile Image for Dakota Morgan.
3,390 reviews53 followers
February 5, 2019
Intriguing but incoherent, Redlands is yet another "modern witches" comic ala Black Magick, except it replaces appealing characters and fascinating witchery with lifeless anti-heroes and boobs galore. The first issue starts things off red hot as witches Ro, Alice, and Bridget burn down the Redlands sheriff department in 1977 and take control of the town. It's a doozy of an intro that immediately sputters as the next handful of issues take almost no time to explore what happens when witches run a town. Instead, the witches deal with a nudist artist murderer, some local yokels, and a handful of meaningless flashbacks that don't offer productive world-building. The only semi-enjoyable plotline involves "grandfather" taking cruel advantage of a rapist trucker. And I guess the curb-stomping of another rapist is somewhat satisfying, even if it makes no narrative sense. Why is Bridget possessed? Why do I care?

Jordie Bellaire does a fine job of keeping things moving, at least, so I was never bored with Redlands, just hoping for something better. Maybe the next volume will have a coherent narrative? I'm hoping Vanesa del Rey tunes up her art too. It's scratchy and distinct, but it adds little to this witching world.
Profile Image for Mary.
1,103 reviews33 followers
June 9, 2018
I purchased this book because I wanted a graphic novel written by women that was supposed to be about feminism.

I do have to say the graphics are really good.

But if this is what feminism is about I'll pass. 3 witches kill a crop of racist, misogynist cops in as much blood and dismemberment as possible. Then they take over the town and become the law enforcement officers. Of course because they are women they are going to be so much better . . . and that's where I have a problem because there is still killing, still injustice, still women who are being taken advantage, but it's okay because it's women taking advantage of the them and at least they aren't racist pigs that are killing & torturing - right? Uhm, no, not for me.

The other problem I had with this graphic novel is that it seemed to bounce all over the place which broke up the story and made it feel very disjointed.

I would read other graphic novels from these authors but probably not this series.
Profile Image for A Fan of Comics .
486 reviews
October 14, 2018
One of the best books that I've read this year.

This book is so beautiful and not just the art, though that's a big part of it. The relationship between these girls just feels so real and natural. They are strong, powerful, witches who run their own town. They dont take shit from anyone, living or dead. Even when they are faced with superiors they stand up for themselves. Its super sexy, scary, and full of revenge! Overall just a great story; Part blair witch, part N.C.I.S., pure badass.
Only complaint would be about the volume. The issues of Redlands had these really cool extras from the world they are in. It would have "how to" or old ads or old myths from their town. There was even some old diary entrees in the back of one issue that scared me more then the comic itself. Hopfully theyll have all that in a deluxe edition cause now I feel like a fool for not picking up the issues.
Profile Image for Stay Fetters.
2,506 reviews199 followers
December 29, 2018
This was unique but just all over the place and boring. I could barely finish it.

Everything was jumbled and jumped from scene to scene way too fast. I was in a constant feeling that I missed something and had to go back to check. Nothing about this was too enjoyable. I felt more annoyed as things unfolded.

The thing that made me rate this higher was that Stephen King’s books kept popping up and the one little illustration of Pennywise in the sewer. Plus some of those illustrations were gruesome and that got my attention.

I wouldn’t waste time on this. There are a lot better graphic novels about witches that exist in this world.
Profile Image for Melissa Bennett.
952 reviews15 followers
April 21, 2021
Mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, it had pretty good artwork and an okay story line. On the other hand there were no redeeming qualities with any of the characters and the story line could get confusing. I love stories on witches, even evil ones but with these witches, they seemed to be as horrible as the people they punished. They weren't very likeable. I think they were supposed to come off as tough but they came off as jerks to me. Although I enjoyed the book enough, I doubt I'll continue with it.
**Note - violence and lots of sexual situations throughout the book.
Profile Image for RG.
3,084 reviews
September 28, 2018
A coven of witches takes over a town run by some racist sheriffs. Skip a few years, these ladies get caught up in a mystery horror thriller which is part detective. I liked how the plot slowly built. The art was ok in most places,n however the dialogue sometimes felt too bloated and even at times irrelevant to the story.
Profile Image for Marina Vidal.
Author 71 books155 followers
May 12, 2019
La verdad es que esperaba otra cosa. La historia tiene potencial, el dibujo es demasiado guarrete para mi gusto, pero tengo ganas de ver como sigue el tebeo.
Profile Image for Shaun Stanley.
1,306 reviews
October 7, 2020
Redlands Vol. 1 Sisters by Blood collects issues 1-6 by Jordie Bellaire and Vanesa Del Rey.

A coven of witches who survived the Salem Witch Trials now run the sheriff's department in Redlands, Florida. The coven's past is coming back to haunt them in this mix or horror and southern crime.

It is a very interesting premise but most of the book is largely mediocre. There seems to be a lot of backstory that is missing or will possibly be told in future issues. The story finally starts gaining some momentum in the last issue of the volume. I enjoyed the art but it has a very sketchy feel to it that doesn't capture a lot of detail. While not bad, I wouldn't go out of your way to find or read this book.
Profile Image for Tyler Graham.
960 reviews7 followers
January 5, 2019
A coven of witches leads a satisfying revenge romp against racists and rapists in a southern, swamp gothic setting. Be ready for plenty of bloody violence, nudity, and some instances of sexual assault when you pick up this book.
Profile Image for Iza.
179 reviews20 followers
October 23, 2020
ever read a book so disappointing that your brain just deletes it from your head immediately after finishing?
Profile Image for Brit.
37 reviews3 followers
August 4, 2018
This book deals with heavy themes of violence towards women so be cautious about reading it if you’re a survivor of abuse.
That said, I found this to be very enjoyable but a confusing read. There’s very little, if any, explanation as to what is happening & how or why beyond the basics that are spelled out in the blurb on the back cover. I’m not writing it off, though, and hope it was the intention of the author as they do more world building than plot explanation (as a lot of it seemed intentionally vague when dealing with the characters) in their first volume. I’m excited to read more and hope I’m right and that we’ll get thorough explanations in future issues. I didn’t have a problem with the art style and enjoyed it. I appreciate that it is a woman written and illustrated comic about powerful women. I just hope we get to learn more about them soon, otherwise this just may be a lot of lost potential.
Profile Image for Jakub Kvíz.
345 reviews40 followers
March 2, 2020
Re-read pred vol. 2, protoze sem stihnul vsechno zapomenout.

Nektery veci davaj na druhy precteni vetsi smysl, ale porad to neni vic jak 3,5*.
Profile Image for Assh.
118 reviews2 followers
June 5, 2018
An excellent and fresh take on Southern occult comics, if you like strong women, murder, and the possibility of exacting revenge on your enemies this is your comic.
Profile Image for Sofia Ashford.
Author 1 book12 followers
July 13, 2022
Big meh. Mostly a disjointed and hard to follow story about the hijinks of some witches in the south.

There's a lot of missed potential here.
Profile Image for Chris.
1,084 reviews26 followers
June 3, 2019
I'm intrigued, but this is definitely flawed. I'm very interested to know more about the characters and the region. It seems everyone is some kind of creature, be it witch, were-alligator, psychic, etc. I'm not even sure who ISN'T something. One guy in particular must be really bad ass, because he can change shape/skin and tell a guy to cut his own nose off and light himself on fire.

The artwork is pretty decent, though gets a little scratchy at times. The coloring is good.

The problem lies in the disjointed story. It starts with a little backstory, but it doesn't really matter much. Then it follows this serial killer line, but that just ends abruptly. Then it follows this other slightly confusing story where a ghost possesses one of the main witches somehow but then has some powers and...yea I'm not totally sure. Like I said, I'm intrigued and I'd definitely read V2, but I hope it improves.

Definitely an adult book with nudity, sexual content, and extreme violence.
Profile Image for Timothy.
132 reviews4 followers
April 8, 2018
As a lover of both Bellaire's coloring and Del Rey's art, I was sufficiently hyped to read this. And indeed, I like the art a lot. It's definitely unique and great at setting the mood. The problem is that the story meanders and has a lot of weird choices and just overall is not very satisfying. There are few likable characters, fewer that have any real depth to them. Hoping that subsequent issues spend more time on the main cast and less time hinting at vague histories and also less time showing generic redneck trash villains being redneck trash.
Profile Image for Daryl.
682 reviews20 followers
October 26, 2021
Well, that was dark. The story begins with three witches being hung and burned, but, hey, they survive and take their revenge on those who've tried to kill them. Then they take over the town and run it. The second issue/chapter takes place 40 years after the first, though the witches don't appear to have aged at all. There's a murderer that the women have to deal with. One of the witches is possessed by some type of entity, while another has an adopted child, who is apparently a spider in human form. Revenge for past misdeeds plays a big role in the story. Lots of blood, gore, and nudity. I'm not always sure what happened - the art is sketchy and somewhat indistinct, not my favorite style - but I'm gonna read volume 2.
Profile Image for Scott.
354 reviews5 followers
May 2, 2022
Knocking this up to 3.5 ☆ because of the great artwork.

So far, an interesting start-up to dark goings ons in a small Florida town, besought w corrupt cops, sleazy dudes, and a coven of witches hell bent on revenge. Story line(s) shifts through past and present very well. Intense straight out of the gates!
Profile Image for Michelle Morrell.
1,108 reviews112 followers
November 13, 2018
This is a pretty extreme story about a small town and the witches that saved it. Sort of. "Saved" it.

Gritty and graphic and totally engrossing. It was a finalist for the World Fantasy Awards, for good reason! Not for everyone. NOT for kids!
Profile Image for andrew y.
1,208 reviews14 followers
April 23, 2018
I struggled to comprehend what exactly this book was trying to say.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews

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