Well, I’ll be damned! One of my favorite comic book series of the past several years, That Texas Blood, is getting a series adaptation at FX! Jim Mickle, the director, showrunner, and writer of Netflix’s fantasy drama Sweet Tooth, is partnering with acclaimed genre writer and filmmaker E.L. Katz for the adaptation. That Texas Blood hails from Image Comics. The series is written by Chris Condon (News From the Fallout, Of the Earth, The Enfield Gang Massacre), with art by Jacob Phillips (Everything Dead & Dying, Of the Earth, Houses of the Unholy).
What is That Texas Blood?
According to Deadline‘s description, That Texas Blood “is a neo-noir Western following Sheriff Joe Bob Coates of Ambrose County, Texas, who questions his place in an increasingly violent world when a man returns home following the sudden disappearance of his brother, causing a spiral down into a past filled with treachery and blood.” The outlet also says the property is like Cormac McCarthy meets John Carpenter, and I could not agree more. In addition to scrappin’ with local gangs, nefarious crime bosses, and cultists, That Texas Blood includes one of the most intense serial killer arcs I’ve ever read.
Michael Waldron and Adam Fasullo are executive producing the series through Anomaly Pictures, with Adam Fishbach, Jeremy Platt, Linda Moran, and author Condon. Jacob Phillips is serving as co-executive producer.
Here’s the official synopsis for the first volume of the series, courtesy of Image Comics:
“Sheriff Joe Bob Coates questions his effectiveness as the aging lawman of Ambrose County, Texas, as chaos descends following an explosive highway confrontation and the mysterious death of local rogue Travis Terrill.”
Criminal is also on the way
Take it from me: things get heated quickly in this series, which feels like a cross between No Country for Old Men and Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal, which is also getting a television series adaptation on Amazon Prime Video. I’m a huge That Texas Blood fan. I’ve been waiting on pins and needles for Condon and Phillips to announce another arc of the comic book series, but I’ll happily take a TV series adaptation of what I’ve already read. Sheriff Joe Bob Coates is totally Sam Elliot-coded, but I’m curious if they’ll cast a different actor to portray the in-over-his-head lawman. We’ll need to wait and see.
