One of the most overlooked books of the modern Valiant era is “Dead Drop”, it came out at a high point for the company; this (mainly) action-driven mini-series came out at the same time than “Book of Death”, which got all the reflectors. I remember some critics even regarding the first issue as inconsequential, something in the lines of “why would you read a one-off story if you could read the ongoings?” But we are talking about an interesting book, worthy of your time (and money!) so let’s talk about it.
Written by Aleš KotCover by Raúl Allén Massa
Art by Adam Gorham
Colors by Michael Spicer
Published by Valiant Entretainment
FOUR HEROES. FOUR STORIES. ONE TICKING CLOCK.
There is a secret black market in New York. It is hidden in plain sight – in our streets, trains, and restaurants. Those who know how to navigate it exchange secrets of extraordinary nature. But when the secret in circulation is a biological weapon derived from Vine technology, the gloves are off – and the most extraordinary agents are released to stop the disaster before it occurs. Otherwise, in less than thirty minutes, there will be no world to come back to. X-O Manowar, Archer, Neville Alcott, Detective Cejudo and Betamax are ready to save the world.
Red-hot writer Ales Kot (Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier) and rising star Adam Gorham (Zero) go in deep with an unlikely cast of superhuman operators for an undercover conspiracy action thriller in the darkest corners of the Valiant Universe.
As the solicit explains, this book is kind of a story in “real time”, MI-6 operative Neville Alcott has intel of an alien virus on the loose in NYC and he recruits some operatives to stop the threat. Every issue focuses on one character trying to retrieve the vial, but not everything is what it seems, not even the book itself.
The first issue features a fast paced chase scene with X-O Manowar following a girl who tries to get to a dead drop in order to give the virus to another person of his organization. The second issue features Archer, from “Archer and Armstrong” with pretty much the same premise, he has to catch the girl before losing the virus, the only problem is that he’s kidnapped.
On the third issue the style of the book shifts, where you could expect another action-packed issue with another A-Lister trying to save Archer, the story becomes more of a spy thriller and the main character is Beta-Max!, yes, an obscure ex-villain from the earliest “Quantum and Woody” issues. The fourth book’s main character is Detective Cejudo, another character from “Quantum and Woody” as she tries to make light of the mystery that’s happening.
All through the series, and even in the very cover we are told “that things are not what they seem,” the alleged terrorist is just a teenager, Neville has some weird reactions that complicate the mission, and as you expect a cat-and-mouse story, it evolves into a thriller and even an Alien-like horror tale.
Aleš Kot is responsible for this shift on the story, he has written books like “Secret Avengers,” “James Bond: The Body” and “The New World.” He always writes thoughtful stories, with a heavy sense of investigation and consequential results. While at first you could imagine a simple book, the takes the set-up and runs wild with it. Every character has a specific way of talking, for example, he nails Aric’s stoic attitude, and Archer’s monologues are both hilarious and dark, after all he’s just a child betrayed by his parents.
Meanwhile, Adam Gorham, known for his work at Marvel’s “Rocket” and “The New Mutants: Dead Souls” drops some serious art, he proves that non only he is more than capable of doing fast-paced scenes, he also succeeds at the spy and horror stuff. Michael Spicer’s color pallete, full of sepia-like tones gives the story a sense of action and, as the story shifts, he adds colors like magenta-pink for the aliens and cyan for holograms, making a contrast between what we expected and what we are getting, effectively grabbing our attention.
Continued belowThe character design of the alien race involved with the story and their mutations are great, and his interpretation of Aric is one of my favorites, I don’t like so much the “realistic” style of the current “X-O Manowar” title, because his suit is often drawn as a bulky, heavy; to be honest there is nothing wrong with that, it works in its space-opera setting, but I do prefer Gorham’s design, lighter, faster, efficient for a super-hero running around New York.
The main critique of this book, as I said before, is that it might be labeled as “inconsequential,” nothing that happens here really affect the rest of the world, but I argue that this is not a flaw but it’s strength, it allows to turn a simple premise into a story with a lot of heart, where no matter who the main character is, you will get attached to them and be affected by what happens in it. You don’t need a world-shifting story that changes the protagonists (and the books) forever. I believe that this even works as a love letter to lesser-known characters.
Ongoing can be kind of intimidating, could you start at issue #38 of “X-O Manowar” and not get lost?, what about “Bloodshot Reborn” #5?, this is volume 2 and they are currently preparing to do volume 5, not counting mini-series. The same might happen with crossovers, can you read “Book of Death” without reading “The Valiant”? I am a regular reader, I understand what happens and what books I can go and read, and the Valiant team are experts on making accessible juming-on points, but it can still be intimidating for new readers, that’s where “Dead Drop” comes in.
Here you have a simple enough story, with well executed plot twists, that involves you and makes you care about an obsolete cyborg built on the eighties, Aleš Kot fans can come in to a new publisher that they might have no tried before and enjoy a fast paced, both funny and thoughtful introduction to the universe.
You can give “Dead Drop” a chance at your Local Comic Shop, or you could also check the team’s other works, Kot’s latest book is Titan’s “Bloodborne” or his self-published Kindle prose book; and Gorham is currently doing “Punk Mambo” back at Valiant, go check them out!
