Justin Jordan and Matteo Scalera craft a heavy-hitting first issue that finds their rightfully vengeful protagonist delivering punishment in a wholly grounded, gritty, and authentic environment.
Written by Justin Jordan
Illustrated by Matteo ScaleraThe men involved in his wife’s death must die. All of them.
Writer JUSTIN JORDAN (LUTHER STRODE) and artist MATTEO SCALERA (BLACK SCIENCE, Indestructible Hulk) craft the bruising story of one man’s revenge and the dark road he travels.
“Dead Body Road” contains as timeless and effective premise as any in hardboiled fiction: revenge for the murder of one’s loved ones. Comics are no stranger to this premise, but rarely are they portrayed with this sort of authentically dusty southwestern grit. Jordan uses a fractured timeline to portray the events that lead to Orson Gage’s quest for revenge, which is another tried and true storytelling tactic. In this case, Jordan uses context clues to effectively make everything that was shuffled up come together by the end, making “Dead Body Road” #1 a satisfying read as a single issue and as a piece of a greater whole. That’s a skill that writers often have difficulty with, but “Dead Body Road” clearly marks an evolutionary step for Jordan as a writer and that’s just one example of it.
The events that led to the death of Gage’s wife are portrayed with a realistic gravity. Unlike “Luther Strode” (which is wonderful in all its own uniquely hyper-violent ways), “Dead Body Road” is wholly grounded in reality and pretty serious about the grave story it’s telling. The more harrowing sequences in this issue are written and play out cinematically and with a gripping tension. The gritty tone works so satisfyingly well here – like a particularly dark episode of Breaking Bad – the dust, and the grime, and the weight of everything takes the reader to a horrifying place. Yet that place looks very much like our own world, so there’s no need to suspend your disbelief. In that way, the story is unspectacular in and of itself, but the execution is so sound in both script and art that it makes for a well-told tale.
Scalera’s art matches Jordan’s grave and gritty tone beat for beat. Scalera’s detailed and focused depictions of the criminal underground mix a seedy street-level feel with the sparse western setting. The characters in this story are going to be getting their hands dirty. Some of them already have. Scalera is an expert choice to capture the idea that revenge is a dish best served cold and the difficult decision-making that that entails. While many of the characters live and operate in the shadows, the hot southwestern sun breaks in around the cracks and creates a wonderful atmosphere – dark blood (and oh there will be blood) left drying in the dusty heat. But the most impressive moments in Scalera’s work on “Dead Body Road” are during the dynamic action beats. Scalera is doing some breakout action work here, where car-chases and brawls happen at a variety of paces, but are always cinematically presented. This is his best, most-assured, tone-perfect work yet.
Jordan and Scalera are on the cusp of being very big deals in the comic book world and you’ll want to be in on the ground floor. Years from now, when “Dead Body Road” shows up on TV or in the movies, you’ll be able to say with utter confidence: “The comic was better.” For fans of a classic revenge story, “Dead Body Road” is a must-buy. Everyone else should consider adding this to their pull list now.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
