Broken Frontier

Stephen King and Joe Hill’s new series is a full-throttle mature audiences only offering.

Road Rage #1, from acclaimed father and son pair Joe Hill & Steven King, is an exciting, gruesome, and hardcore first step in a brand new series.  Following a misfit and violent motorcycle gang, Road Rage will blast readers in the face with drug abuse, murder, and high-speed chases, all brought to gorgeous life by artist Nelson Daniel.

The content and tone of Road Rage firmly sets the book in the territory of mature audiences only.  Hill and King clearly intended to make their characters as unlikeable as possible, reflected by their history in drug manufacturing and pushing.  Despite their unfriendly disposition, however, story leads Race and Vince, leaders of the nicknamed “Tribe,” easily steal the show; behind Vince’s incredibly rough exterior, his obvious concern for his son redeems the difficult-to-like rider.  Though almost every member of the robust cast of riders proves to be despicable, an insanely violent and murderous sequence chops and crushes the gang to a mere four, which will surely make each surviving member all the more interesting to come to know in future issues.

Nelson Daniel takes advantage of every possible chance to show just how aggressive and ruthless The Tribe can be.  The aforementioned destructive scene that takes down numerous riders pulls no punches, as the riders' faces, bodies, and innards all smash and splatter across the hot desert pavement.  Beyond the gruesome pencils, however, Daniel’s colors are vibrant and full, which adds a noticeable amount of detail to each frame.

Stephen King & Joe Hill’s Road Rage is an exciting mix of drug running, murder, and illegal activities, with a second layer of family drama that adds to the intensity.  When Nelson Daniel’s great art is added to the mix, Road Rage #1 becomes a great book for adults that begs to be read.