FX Adapts Acclaimed Comic for TV With a Dream Team at the Helm

Here’s one for fans of crime, cowboys, and stories where most people don't make it out with their souls intact. FX is having another crack at the ‘gritty American drama’ formula—this time, they’re digging into the comic book world with an adaptation of ‘That Texas Blood’. If you’re unfamiliar, that’s a neo-noir western from writer Chris Condon and artist Jacob Phillips. Think broken lawmen, Vanishing sibling cases, all the sunburnt dread of modern Texas—if you like your shows with a bit of dust, blood, and existential crisis, this one might be your next obsession.

What actually is 'That Texas Blood'?

Right, so this comic kicked off back in 2021 under Image Comics, mostly flying under the radar at first but quietly picking up a solid fanbase. It sits somewhere between a crime drama and an old-school western—just with mobile phones and a little less horse dung. The story centres on Sheriff Joe Bob Coates out in Ambrose County, Texas, who spends a lot of time doubting whether he’s making any difference (spoiler: not much). One day, a bloke returns home to find his brother’s disappeared in suspicious, probably violent, circumstances and that cracks open all the old wounds in the area.

If ‘Yellowstone’ feels too clean or ‘Breaking Bad’ wasn’t rural enough for you, here’s your next fix. Three volumes are out so far and the fandom’s got a ‘hidden gem’ energy which is probably about to be shattered by this TV announcement.

Who’s trying to pull this off for TV?

Over at FX, Jim Mickle and E.L. Katz are on the scripts and will both executive produce. These two aren’t new to the game; they last worked together on the cult favourite ‘Hap and Leonard’, so you know they’ve got a solid feel for the oddball, muddy end of American storytelling. ‘Hap and Leonard’, by the way, quietly became Sundance TV’s highest-rated original series, so that’s a hint this one won’t just be another background western.

• Writers/Executive Producers: Jim Mickle, E.L. Katz
• Executive Producers: Michael Waldron, Adam Fasullo, Adam Fishbach, Jeremy Platt, Linda Moran, Chris Condon (the original comic’s writer)
• Co-Executive Producer: Jacob Phillips (comic artist)

Mickle is actually in the middle of a couple of other projects, namely Netflix’s big-budget ‘Gundam’ adaptation—just casually stacking anime robots on top of gory westerns, as you do. Side note: ‘Gundam’ has Sydney Sweeney and Noah Centineo lined up, if you’re curious about his current direction.

E.L. Katz, on the other hand, was behind the twisted comedy ‘Cheap Thrills’, which won both the Audience Award and Best First Feature at SXSW back in 2014, so expect him to inject a fair bit of bleak humour along with the misery.

When’s it coming out?

There’s no release date yet—not even a vague ‘coming soon’ tease from FX. Safe to assume it’ll be a while before the cameras start rolling in fake Texas.