Comic Review: Dead Body Road #1 (Image Comics)

There’s nothing like a first issue cover showing a woman walking away from an explosion to capture our attention. And so it is with Dead Body Road #1 from Image.

Justin Jordan resumes writing a tale of violence, smouldering revenge, things that burn, people that hurt.

Benjamin Tiesma is the artist, and Mat Lopes colours this issue, which starts off with a mission gone wrong. Billy has messed up, and Mr. Sinclair has had enough. The goings get tough when a bar owner is questioned about her brother’s whereabouts, sending the story into a direction rife with more violence. You see, Bree Hale has walked away from crime, and the military is in her past too. But when it comes to family, there’s no walking away further.

It’s revenge with a walking stick, a walk on the wild side. Jordan’s writing is terse, with tension in every scene. The editing is tight and elastic, ready to snap back with a bite. Tiesma draws the faces and figures in mid fury, full of emotion and frustration. The body language is not languid, it’s coiled and ready. Explosive. And Lopes brings the explosions home, the fire, the brimstone, the country bar gone rogue, the dark nights of violence are blue and indigo.

Tight, terrorized and so readable, this new arc continues the story gone by, and you’ll want to jump into its lane!

Image, Dead Body Road #1, $3.99 for 26 pages of content, Mature