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Advance Review: ‘Dead Body Road’ #1

Published

10 years ago

on

With a gritty atmosphere and an intricate plot, “Dead Body Road” #1 has a string of tough-talking characters, snappy dialogue, and pulpy humor. This is a page-turning crime thriller that lives for a high body count. Justin Jordan looks to have another hit with “Dead Body Road”.

WRITTEN BY: Justin Jordan
ART BY: Matteo Scalera
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Dec. 11, 2013

During a heist, Jimmy just hit the jackpot and is about get away scot-free. All of a sudden, Jimmy hears loud gunshots from the floor below him. As another crime takes place, Jimmy discovers a room full of dead bodies and gunmen wearing gas masks. Elsewhere, Orson isn’t dealing so well with the tragic loss of Anna. After making a regular life for himself, Orson now has to return to the crime underworld he once tried to forget. The cops and mobsters will not get in Orson’s way as he seeks revenge against the man who killed Anna. But when Jimmy and Orson cross paths, no one will be spared alive.

Writer Justin Jordan has done a great job with the gritty characterizations of his ensemble cast. Orson is an ex-con who just wants to live a regular, uneventful life, but that’s impossible with Anna gone. Jimmy is a low-level womanizer and jokester, who ends up being the witness of a cold-blooded murder. Though he is a good cop, Jack might have to look away and turn a blind eye, knowing full well what is going happen next. Then, there are criminals worse than Orson and Jimmy, who don’t have an ounce of redeemable quality inside them.

What I really enjoyed about Jordan’s nonlinear structure is how everything fits together. Jordan makes a reference to the bloody massacre in the opening pages through a picture. The transitions between past and present run smoothly as the multiple subplots intertwine. Jordan adds back-story in the unlikeliest places, especially when the action is pumped up. The narrative starts with a shocker and ends with one too.

Matteo Scalera’s artwork depicts a seedy underbelly where criminals are rotten to the core and victims are tortured. Scalera is utterly unflinching when it comes to the graphic violence. Scalera wants you to see the women’s throat get sliced with a blade, with all the blood in the air. You will squirm when Scalera illustrates a guy getting stabbed in the stomach in an extreme close-up.

A major highlight of the narrative, the high speed car chase is impressively cinematic. We get the tires spinning, the cars swerving crookedly, and the desert landscape in the background. Keeping up with the quick pace, Scalera illustrates a sports car being flipped over in different angles. In a carefully constructed sequence, Scalera keeps the camera on the car flying in mid-air to when the vehicle crashes upside-down.

An excellent start, “Dead Body Road” #1 is difficult to put down once you get started. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series.

4.5/5 skulls

Reviewed by – Jorge Solis

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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

2 weeks ago

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April 18, 2024

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Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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