Dead Run #1

2009 | Boom! Studios

Story: Andrew Cosby
Script: Michael Alan Nelson
Art: Francesco Biagini
Colour: Matthew Wilson
Letters: Marshall Dillon
Cover: Eric Canete | Digikore Studios

Nick Masters is a courier, one of the best, that has a problem. His sister’s been kidnapped by Kane, a former client, who wants Nick to make the Dead Run down to San Francisco. A run only one man has ever survived, and he isn’t helping.

What we have here is yet another post apocalyptic series. For whatever reasons, America is a wasteland and the normal people of the world are confined to the big cities. The world outside contains mutant marauders hell bent on slaughtering anyone that ventures outside, and areas highly radiated. It goes without saying that the terrain is severely damaged as well.

I’ve always been a fan of the post apocalyptic. I can never get tired of the horrible mutants and savage violence. When I saw the cover, it intrigued me, so I picked it up.

For a four issue run, we have a nice simple plot. All he needs to do is make the delivery and hope his sister is released. It’s just him and his navigator and miles of treacherous wasteland. So far the ride has been good, but I was really waiting for it to explode, which it didn’t.  The cliffhanger wasn’t really grabbing, just one of those “uh-oh-that-ain’t-good” affairs.

The art suits this story very well. I wasn’t too sure about it in the beginning, almost craving something a bit darker and grittier. I soon got settled in and enjoyed myself.

Do all couriers behave like condescending jackasses?

Nope, just the good ones.

The writing contains the type of wit you’d expect from such a story and it manages just fine without seeming clichéd or stereotypical, even though it mostly is in that expected sort of way. Anything else wouldn’t have worked at all. It’s one of the aspects of this book I really like. Nathan’s character isn’t anything unique, nor is the story for that matter. We’ve seen his type before and followed similar stories. But there’s something in that familiarity that almost hooked me in.

As an ongoing, I would stop here. There’s just not enough in this issue to interest me in following it. I did enjoy reading this and then the cliffhanger came which made me stare, blink, and think “hrmm. I’m not so sure about this.”

This book needs an octane boost and fast. The cover of the next issue will decide for me whether I should chance going on. I just can’t decide right now.