Broken Frontier

What makes a good person? Some things we might look for would be strength, integrity, honesty, a good heart, a sincere desire to do the right thing, correct? What about prostitution, drug addiction, murder, and theft? Not something one would associate with the “good guys” right? Not according to writer Chuck Satterlee. With Of Bitter Souls, Satterlee takes four people on the fringes (or worse) of society. Four people who have been cast off and ignored by everyone else in the world, and transforms them into superheroes. 

Some may remember that this title launched a few years ago from the ill-starred Speakeasy comics. Only three issues hit the stands before Speakeasy folded and placed the title’s future in question. Happily, Of Bitter Souls found a new home at Markosia publishing. In a judgment call, Satterlee chose not to republish the first three issues that were originally released by Speakeasy and then go on to publish the final three issue of the first arc. Instead, Satterlee and artist Norm Breyfogle chose to complete the initial story arc and release it directly as a trade paperback. It was a risky venture but one that pays off in spades for the series here.

The place is Pre-Katrina New Orleans, a city known for an “anything goes” attitude, con artists, and corrupt cops and in the first tale that is what the reader gets – along with a lot more. The enigmatic Pastor Albert Secord takes four people out of their dark lives and bestows on them amazing powers. Make no mistake, though, the powers are as much curse as blessing.

Each issue follows the team on their adventures but also spotlights the members in turn, contrasting their pasts with their presents. Jade, a prostitute is given the name Magdalena (Magz for short) as well as the power to control others’ minds. The heroin addict George Parker finds his name changed to Jobe and discovers that he is now the ultimate quick-change artist as he is given the power to appear as anyone he wants. Lynette Story is a con artist, a grifter, and a gambler until she is granted the power to turn back time and transformed into Salome. Finally, there is New Orleans Police Officer Winston Fontenot; tough, hard, brutal, and corrupt he is the opposite of the police motto “To Serve and Protect”. The irony is palpable then when he is bestowed with superhuman strength and near-invulnerability and given the name Samson.

The powers each one bears would make it all too terribly easy for them to continue down their self-destructive paths... A gambler who can see every winning turn of the roulette wheel then turn back time to bet on the correct number? A cop who shakes down petty criminals for money who is now bulletproof? A drug addict who can transform into a bank manager or the local drug czar? A woman who was only ever treated as a sexual object and not as a person, now has the power to turn the tables on those who used her? These four must take a higher path, though. They have been given a chance to change their lives, to make something more of themselves. In short, they have a shot at redemption. But every day they must battle the darker natures that would call them back to what they were.

Speaking of darkness... These four also know more than a little about that subject as well. New Orleans is a city also steeped in history, folklore, and the supernatural. It’s all just stories, though, isn’t it? Not for Magz, Samson, Jobe, and Salome. They have been given these powers to use in battle against the supernatural forces of darkness that haunt the city and prey upon the inhabitants. There are vampires, zombies, ghosts, curses, and more, aligned against the heroes. But there is also something more... You see, Pastor Secord has a secret... something he hasn’t told this team... namely the real reason they have been given their powers. Can these four fragile souls handle the truth?

That cliffhanger question was where the team was left at the end of the trade paperback. Since then Satterlee has relaunched the ongoing series with a new #1. The first issue of volume two does a nice, efficient job of recapping the previous issues and then jumping ahead one year for all the characters. Sure, this is a gimmick seen recently, but Satterlee’s version of “One Year Later” is, in many ways, far more shocking, surprising, and touching as readers see just what has happened to each member of the team and just how each one has tried to cope with Secord’s revelation. The four teammates are quickly learning, though, that evil does not care about what they can and cannot handle. How will the Bitter Souls face a new round of threats?

As if Chuck Sattterlee’s thought provoking stories were not enough, Of Bitter Souls has another ace in its hand... the art of industry veteran Norm Breyfogle. There are many fans that remember Norm fondly for his work with the character Batman for DC Comics. Here Breyfogle takes everything he has learned about atmosphere and noir and pours it into this title. His work catches the unique character of New Orleans before the hurricane devastated that grand lady and gives the city an extra layer of supernatural creepiness.

He also branches out with the characters, not afraid to build in some amazing contrasts. Magz, although drawn as physically slight, often displays a face of fierce confidence and self-assurance that denies her size. On the other hand, the physically tall and strong Samson bears expressions of insecurity and uncertainty that make him seem a smaller, weaker figure. The choice to release the complete first arc in trade also allowed Breyfogle the opportunity to go back and fine tune a little of the art on the earlier issues. It is with volume two, however, that things really get wound up. Breyfogle’s work has started to come into its own here and his increasing familiarity with the characters has led to a greater depth.

Of Bitter Souls is neither fish nor fowl but something in between. Chuck Satterlee has taken some wonderful horror elements and merged them with a gothic atmosphere, superheroics, and human drama. It is, in the end, the human characters that make up the heart of these tales. What Satterlee proves so well in his writing is that, while redemption can be a gift freely given sometimes it must be fought for and earned. The fight sometimes needs muscle and bone but it will always require soul and heart.