Writer – Ales Kot
Artist – Adam Gorham
Colourist – Michael Spicer
Letterer – Dave Sharpe
Publisher – Valiant Entertainment
Valiant has been putting the pedal to the metal in 2015 through their multiple mini series’ alone. The Valiant brought upon an epic tale that felt like a historically twisted fairy tale in which some major players in the Valiant universe played a key role, and Divinity revealed a new and very powerful individual whose abilities from the far reaches of the cosmos have been brought to Earth. With a wide array of absolute top-notch creative teams on these books alone, the trifecta, the triumvirate, the third eye, if you will, is now found within the team behind Dead Drop.
It doesn’t take very long for the action to take hold and grab you. The opening page shows a graceful Aric Dacia, better known as X-O Manowar, flying rapidly down overtop Times Square in New York City. Aric is in hot pursuit of an individual that belongs to an anarchist group that has been attempting to move a highly dangerous virus from the black market via multiple dead drops. These dead drops are designated locations where an individual would leave an item for another to pick up and continue moving along a chain of drops. Aric is being lead by Neville Alcott, a leading member of the Valiant hero team Unity and senior officer of the MI6, to stop this virus from being spread and potentially lead to the contamination of Earth and its inhabitants.
The one thing that really stands out from this debut issues is the rapid pacing of the action. Ales Kot’s dialogue quickly jumps between characters, barely leaving any breathing room for both Aric and the anarchist. Adam Gorham has an absolute firm handle on the frenetic motions of Aric running through the streets of New York City. His line work is actually quite minimal throughout, but does draw out some wonderful motion lines and in-your-face moments when things get really hectic. Gorham would do wonders on a book like The Flash, or even Daredevil. The backgrounds and faces don’t have an extreme amount of detail, but it doesn’t really affect the overall quality that the art style projects throughout. A few splash pages of Aric in action are worth the price of admission alone.
Gorham plays with shadows on faces instead of lined detail, enhanced through the use of tones by colourist Michael Spicer. Spicer’s colours are another highlight for this book. The streaks of green, orange and red he provides alongside Gorham’s motion lines create this unique sense of fluidity. Additionally, the levels of pinks he paints to show the extreme damage the virus has caused to another civilization is simultaneously terrifying and beautiful. Hopefully Gorham will get the chance to colour more complex panels as this series progresses.
Letterer Dave Sharpe also deserves credit for dealing with the rapid-fire frames within frames that are constant throughout. He spreads out word balloons and narration boxes that don’t disrupt the flow of action. His word balloons at times actually amplify the flowing motion, such as when he separates the words of the anarchist as she runs and jumps around as she attempts to escape from Aric.
With Ales Kot’s simple plot of ‘catch the bad guy’ with a tinge of sci-fi influenced potential pandemic, alongside the artwork of Adam Gorham and Michael Spicer, and letterer Dave Sharpe, Dead Drop is already a lot of fun. Don’t feel guilty if you need an oxygen tank by the time the last page comes. The only way to describe the adrenaline pumping first issue is to quote the great philosopher Samuel L. Jackson from the film Jurassic Park: “Hold onto your butts.”