Round Robin Review: Dead Drop #1

Ales Kot and Adam Gorham’s Dead Drop hits stores this week and we have our round-robin review with our first thoughts, and don’t worry, it’s mostly spoiler free.

Amy’s take

Ales Kot and Adam Gorham take readers on a wild ride in the madcap chase book. This miniseries will be a bit like a relay race, with each issue seeing another Valiant character take over for the last in the quest to recover a deadly virus sample. I like what Kot has done with Aric’s personality, loosening him up a bit more but still keeping him ignorant of modern banter. Gorham’s art is outstanding and the opening scene will take your breath away. Fun read! Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Paul’s take

Dead Drop #1 was definitely an exciting story, but Aric’s character just didn’t feel right to me. If you overlook that fact, it’s a very fun read with very good art! A lot of action in this story, but a different kind of action. If you like a chase, you’ll love it. I can’t wait to see what happens with the other characters in upcoming issues!

Scott’s take

It will be interesting to see whether Dead Drop #1 is indicative of the mini-series as a whole, or whether it was merely intended as an exciting first chapter meant to draw readers in. Essentially, almost the entire issue is devoted to a street-level chase although Ales Knot is careful to insert just enough exposition for readers to get a sense of what is going on while still maintaining a sense of mystery for further issues. Given how most first issues tend to be heavily devoted to set-up, this kind of in media res storytelling is a bit refreshing. Granted, I wouldn’t want to read this all of the time, but it works in the context of this mini-series, especially considering that all of the solicited characters already have their own titles. Also, Adam Gorham’s artwork is a revelation. This was my first exposure to him, and I was blown away.

Altogether this is a series that I really hope does well. Based on this issue and the solicits for later issues, it appears as if Knot is taking a seemingly-random Valiant characters and throwing them into a street-level conspiracy story. I personally am excited to read the rest of the series, because I love the idea of exploring different story genres with existing characters. My hope is that other Valiant fans do as well, which sends a message to Valiant that this kind of risk-taking is absolutely worth it.

Originally from ValiantCentral.com