Comic Book Review: Hillbilly

“There is but two facts of which I am sure. Today is Tuesday, and a witch is gonna die.”

So says Rondel, the main character of Eric Powell’s moody, brilliant fantasy adventure.

Hillbilly is a unique fantasy comic, in large part because of its setting. Taking place in a fantasy equivalent of the Appalachian Mountain area, Hillbilly takes many familiar conventions of the genre and breathes new life into them with this concept.

Hillbilly is a comic with a very simple premise, one that is displayed at the beginning of nearly every issue.

“There are many stories of Rondel the wandering hillbilly. This is but one.”

Rondel is a drifter, walking from place to place.

He fights evil and slays witches.

He is armed with the Devil’s Cleaver, a gigantic cleaver said to have been taken from the table of Satan himself, and thus possessing tremendous power against witches.

Rondel is gifted with unnatural eyesight, a “gift” given to him by a witch that he once saved.

Wherever he goes, trouble follows.

Hillbilly is an episodic comic. Each story is self-contained, offering a tale of Rondel’s exploits as he wanders from one area to the next, and fights against various supernatural evils. Ranging from witches’ schemes, to a cursed fiddle, monstrous serpents, and the vengeful Tailypo (an actual creature from Appalachian folklore), Rondel faces a variety of wicked and nasty forces in his travels.

Fortunately, he isn’t always alone in his hardships.

Sometimes Rondel is joined by his friend Lucille – a gigantic grizzly bear, and a delightfully crotchety character who is also devoutly loyal to her friend and will fight tooth and claw to help him when the need comes for it. Other memorable characters make an appearance in the stories, from Rondel's childhood crush Esther (a tough-as-nails adventurer in her own right) and the young wizard James Stoneturner (a decent and good man whose connection to magic stones gives him some fearsome magic powers of his own). Many characters, be they recurring like Lucille or Esther, or one-offs like a Native American shaman, are memorably portrayed.

Hillbilly is in many ways similar to Powell’s previous work, The Goon, in that it is an unconventional fantasy story with a big, ominous-looking protagonist and bittersweet themes to it. Unlike The Goon however, this comic is much more subtle in its humor, and is much more open from the beginning with its bittersweet tone.

This is made very plain through the comic’s use of color. Powell’s work on The Goon used a fairly wide range of colors, which helped convey the book’s variety of tones. The stories in the world of the Goon could be funny, serious, spooky, or any combination thereof. Hillbilly, in comparison, uses a much more restrained, subdued wheel of colors – often using a sepia base, with various shades of green, brown and gray to complement the mood as needed. Red is used sparingly, which makes it really “pop” off the page when it appears, adding a very uncanny feel to the color. Other colors – such as blue or white – are also used rarely, making their addition stand out well. This restrained use of color gives Hillbilly a very gritty, down-to-earth feel, perfectly fitting with its moody tone.

That’s not to say that the book is all doom and gloom, though. No, far from it: Rondel is a truly heroic and noble-hearted individual, and his efforts are never sneered at by the narrative. Rondel very well knows the human capacity for evil – “why so much betrayal and suffering? The answer is simple. ‘Cause folks is ignert, and that’s all there is to it” he muses to himself in one issue – but he never stops with his questing to slay evil, and is never once sneered at by the narrative for his efforts.

Powell’s writing is top-notch in the book, and his artwork is also strikingly effective as well. A particular favorite issue involves Rondel seeking shelter from a blizzard. I legitimately gasped out loud to behold how skillfully Powell’s art renders the pounding snow; the image of Rondel lumbering through the blizzard is an astonishingly beautiful, somber image.

All in all, I would highly recommend Hillbilly to both comic readers and fantasy fans alike. It has gorgeous art, smart and effective writing, and a brilliantly realized world with its unique, and authentically Appalachian setting.