Justin Jordan returns to his penchant for evocative violence in his tightest narrative yet. In concept, and through Kyle Strahm’s sprawling art, “Spread” #1 is one hell of a gripping yarn and a respectful homage to a classic comic story.
Written by Justin Jordan
Illustrated by Kyle StrahmTen years ago, we dug too deep. We unleashed something ancient that couldn’t be controlled. Something that couldn’t be stopped, twisting everything it touched into more of itself.
The Spread. Humanity was nearly destroyed before we found a way to slow the Spread to a crawl. Now, deep inside the quarantined zone, one man has found the key to stopping it forever: a baby girl. And if he can save her, he might save the world.
With the “Luther Strode” stories, Justin Jordan has proven himself to be an expert on the subjects of violence and making mythical figures out of his protagonists. Where “Luther Strode” was wildly uninhibited (thanks in no small part to Tradd Moore’s gonzo art) and as loose as could be, “Spread” presents those same foci in a quieter, more subtle fashion. Insanity was great for Luther Strode, but in an apocalyptic winter horror title like “Spread”, the dutiful approach is more suitable.
That said, it’s not as if there isn’t fun to be had with “Spread” – it’s just that it’s the kind of fun you have watching a terrifying movie through the cracks between your fingers. After all, a book with its blood-covered hero wearing a BABYBJÖRN can’t be entirely grave, can it? In this way, there are obvious parallels to “Lone Wolf and Cub” (parallels which Jordan himself has drawn) with a modern, tongue-in-cheek spin. Jordan balances a serious tribute with his particular brand of outrageousness and macabre humor, which is really what makes this his best work yet.
While the world of “Spread” remains mysterious, Jordan and Strahm establish it well with verbal and visual context clues. Jordan likens the world to that of John Carpenter’s The Thing, which is really apt. Perhaps it was the immediacy of the reference, but Noah Hawley’s Fargo television series also comes to mind as the same sort of amazing exercise in taut tension, except the source of the tension is a horrible breed of creature spreading like a plague, rather than horrible people behaving badly. The snow-covered setting always seems to mix well with bright red blood splatter – an evocative effect that works many times over in the issue. While we don’t yet learn what exactly made the world into this horrorscape, Jordan’s script features his best pacing yet. The ongoing narration seems to be one step ahead of the visual story – a trick that causes some key moments to hit with greater impact when image meets text.
And those images are so impactful, coming from art as detailed and creepy as Strahm’s. The homage to “Lone Wolf and Cub” extends beyond the plot, where our hero (“No” – yes, that’s his name) bears more than a passing resemblance to Ogami Ittō from that seminal story. And while this isn’t nearly the first direct homage to “Lone Wolf and Cub” (a certain Marvel “bub” has participated in his own share of those), it is one of the better ones out there, from both a visual and narrative standpoint.
The visual design of the Spread fills the panels and makes the book claustrophobic when it needs to be, with colorist Felipe Sobreiro’s rich reds standing in stark contrast to the white of the snow and the grays and dull blues of our characters’ garb. Whatever happened to the world, Strahm makes it look as horrifying and disgusting as Jordan could have hoped for. Like Moore did on “Luther Strode”, Strahm makes the most of the page space when he’s asked to depict some really gruesome and inventive acts of violence. “No” takes on the Spread a couple times over the course of the opening issue, and there are times that it all plays out like a bloody dance – blood and sinew and parts strewn through the air and snow.
“Spread” combines the best aspects of Justin Jordan’s most previous creator-owned works: the straightforward and taut storytelling skills on display in “Dead Body Road” and the ability to collaborate with a terrific artist to produce over-the-top and violent imagery, as he did on “Luther Strode.” Strahm’s choreography elevates “Spread” to something greater than pure gore. For all its blood and horror and desperation, “Spread” #1 is beautifully realized.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
