As incredible and awesome as comic books are they are not without their limitations. These limitations can be overcome, don’t get me wrong. Great comic book writers and artists always find new and creative ways to break through the boundaries and rules that naysayers claim can’t be done. Justin Jordan and Matteo Scalera‘s Dead Body Road is a perfect example of a great comic book that destroys those boundaries and laughs at it as they watch it get smaller and insignificant in the rear-view mirror. They show us what a comic can is capable of and how it executes amazing panels that match an equally great story.
Dead Body Road #6 completes its mini-series run and I’m surprised it is not becoming an ongoing series like some mini’s do. Justin Jordan has created a compelling story of crime fiction that would work perfectly as a first arc, but is great as a standalone series. I would love to see more of Gage on a journey, leaving behind him a trail of dead bodies. His quest for revenge is a story that we see often in comics, but Jordan makes everything seem so realistic you feel like you are taking the journey with him.
Coupled with Matteo Scalera’s out of this world illustrations it’s a must that you pick up this book in Trade format if you missed the single issues. Scalera goes above and beyond in each chapter, creatively out doing himself with each iteration. What I love about Scalera’s art is how he depicts the chase scenes in Dead Body Road. For a medium as inanimate as a comic book is, he does an amazing job at making it look like the cars and characters appear as if they are zooming around, page to page. It’s what makes this book so unique.
The story and art in this book would be great as an ongoing series, but as a mini-series it still manages to deliver something exceptional. Scalera already does fantastic work on one of my favorite series out right now in Black Science and I am definitely going to pick up anything by Justin Jordan in the future. If there other works are as great as Dead Body Road, how can you go wrong?
Story: Justin Jordan – Penciler/Inker: Matteo Scalera – Colorist: Moreno Dinisio – Letters: Pat Brosseau – Cover: Scalera & Dinisio
Story: 9.5 Art: 9.5 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy
* Note – These ratings are based not only on Issue #6, but the entire six issue series of Dead Body Road *
