‘Southern Hospitality’: A Graphic Representation of Racism and Revenge in Comics

Months later, the movie Sinners still sits with me, so I felt obligated to write about a comic short that reminded me of the film. Specifically Smoke’s last stand with the Ku Klux Klan. In “Southern Hospitality,” written by Mikhail Hardy with art and colors by Eli John and Robin L. Davis, the main character, John Jackson, aka JJ, seeks revenge for the death of his friend in arms at the hands of Klansmen. He hunts the racist group down to a bar in Decatur, Georgia, and makes sure everyone pays for their crimes. In this six-page comic, the art and story convey the perfect message of “fuck around and find out.”

On the first page, we have multiple panels that promise destruction. The main character has destroyed his home in a rage, breaking glass and plaster on the walls. Homie is pissed. Compounding that with the calm yet ominous narrative of him telling the reader that he has reached his breaking point, we know that things are about to escalate quickly. We don’t don’t know who yet, but someone is getting their ass whipped.

The tension in the plot is then heightened with medium and close-up shots set against a dark and muted atmosphere. It’s almost as if life was sucked out of the room. This art style contributes to the monotone quality of the dialogue throughout the plot. This combination allows the reader to experience John’s anger intimately while he prepares for the violence to come. In contrast, the reader also gets to experience the cowardice of the police officer in the bar while John is monologuing. Through this interaction, the reader can sense a sense of righteousness regarding John’s future display of carnage. He is devastated and ready to go to war.

The violence was gruesome, as promised. Hardy, John, and Davis pull no punches with the final scene of the story, leaving a gory mess of racist entrails. Much like Smoke, John took EVERYONE out and made sure his message was CLEAR. It was a beautiful, cathartic release of tension. 

I love that the comic begins and ends in rage. To see the violence inflicted on John’s home successfully turned outwards to the people who killed his friend was peak!!!! The main character had only six pages to scorch the earth, and he made sure to say his peace before delivering on his promise of revenge. John’s story embodies the treatment of Black veterans during and after World War II. I can only imagine the mental wrought that Black Americans faced, having a taste of being treated with humanity in other countries only to come back to the United States and be met with vitriol and hostility. This “snap” makes sense and is a stark reminder of what happens when you take everything away from oppressed folks. What is there to lose? What is stopping me from fighting now? No one should be pushed into this mentality. Still, it feels good to see some payback in a system that actively works on the demise of marginalized groups.

This comic short is one of many that I loved in Noir is the New Black: Noir Stories from Black Creators, curated and edited by Fabrice Sapolsky and TC Harris. This year, Fairsquare Comics is crowd-funding for a new edition of this comic with more stories and more creators. If you can, donate to the Kickstarter!

The next story in this series is “Watercolors” by Ravynn K. Stringfield as published in Midnight and Indigo: Twenty-Two Speculative Stories by Black Women Writers. The first line caught my eye, and I must finish it. Until next time, nerds!!

Note 1: One reason this article is coming out later than I expected is because of the art. I’m learning about angles and shots in comics.

Note 2: With this comic, there are mainly medium and close-up shots with the bird’s eye view long shot that establishes the bar as the setting and the shot of his demolished home. Very rarely are we seeing full-body shots, which, upon further inspection of the entire anthology, I realized was the norm. Because of this, long shots extend the story in ways that are unnecessary in comic shorts. 

NOTE 3: I’m not sure if this one was written well. But I won’t apologize for publishing it. This series is an exercise, and sometimes it’s not perfect.