Writer(s): Stephen King, Joe Hill, Chris Ryall
Artist: Nelson Daniel
IDW's latest collaboration with Joe Hill is Road Rage. Along with his father, a little known writer named Stephen King(who also wrote the short story with Hill as well), and adapted with Chris Ryall, the comic tells the tale of The Tribe, a group of bikers on the road after a meth deal goes bad. Illustrated by Nelson Daniel, the tale is expertly presented and is a great introduction to comics that don't feature capes and superpowers.
Focusing primarily on Race and Vince, Road Rage follows the two as they leave the scene of a murder committed by one of their members. From the beginning we can tell that Vince is the more level-headed of the two, and after the vicious machete killing he witnessed, Vince is thinking that maybe he should the leave the group behind. However, thinking about leaving is a whole lot easier than doing it, especially when the gang just lost sixty thousand dollars to a meth addict who had them convinced that he could make lab. Now, reeling from the fallout of the murder of the addict's girlfriend, the relationships between the members of the Tribe are tense to say the least. As Vince discusses what has happened with Race, Race chucks a bottle at the side of a semi-truck, which then drvies off. But not before Vince notices that the driver was in there the whole time. As the semi fades from view, he wonders what will happen to his group down the road, and tries to shake the feeling that he'll see that semi truck again....
The characters in Road Rage are fully formed. None of them fall into the "biker stereotype", and the relationships are fully defined, which is great considering this is the first issue of the miniseries. There's a good balance between character work and action, especially once the Tribe gets onto the road after taking that fateful pit stop with the semi-truck. Speaking of action, artist Nelson Daniel hits it out of the park with this book. I've never seen his work before, but I was floored by what I saw in this issue. I cannot recommend Road Rage enough, especially if you are a fan of Stephen King and Joe Hill, Sons Of Anarchy, or just good comics in general. Be sure to pick up the Jetpack exclusive cover, if you can still get it.
COMIC QUICK HITS
Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe
Artist: Tyler Jenkins
Written by Kurtis J. Wiebe, the acclaimed writer of Green Wake and The Intrepids, Peter Panzerfaust is a mix of the classic "Peter Pan" story and World War II. Told from the perspective of a French orphan, Panzerfaust has a very unique twist that I was pretty pleased with, even if I found the ending of the issue to be a little confusing. The "Peter Pan" connections are very subtle here, which I really liked. Peter is a mysterious American who is searching the French city of Calais for a girl named "Belle" (take a guess who that's supposed to be). While traversing the Nazi-besieged city, Peter comes across a group of French orphans, who call themselves "The Lost Boys". This opening issue is more of a foundation builder, and it seems to have a lot of potential. The ending falls a little flat, but perhaps the second issue will clear that up.
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo
Just fucking buy it already.
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