Drive Like Hell #1 Review

 

Writer: Rich Douek

Artist & Colorist: Alex Cormack

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Cover Artist: Alex Cormack

Publisher: Dark Horse

Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 25, 2023

 

Bobby Rae needs a fast set of wheels. So he hotwires a Firebird outside Lulu’s. Now Bobby Rae’s ready to play the rabbit. But will the bank job go according to plan? Let's leap into Drive Like Hell #1 and find out!

 

Story

Lulu warns him not to fall in love. They'll need to ditch the car afterward. What Bobby Rae doesn't know is that the owner is hunting him. Roarke won't let his car go without a fight--especially not with what Hiram stowed in the trunk.

 

Did Sonny or Del squeal? Roarke was waiting for them at the bank. Sure, Dahlia got away with the cash. But Roarke strode out afterward. As Bobby Rae roared away, Roarke fired. Now Dahlia’s got a golfball-sized hole in her head. But that’s not stopping her from talking and lighting a ciggy. Smoke that cancer stick quickly, Dahlia! The cops and agent Roarke are on your trail!

 

In Drive Like Hell #1, Rich Douek returns us to 1974. He combines his homage to The Rockford Files and Gone In 60 Seconds with a tale about a Special Agent from Hell charged by the Devil to secure a powerful artifact. Is that keeping Dahlia alive? Or does the Firebird possess more power than its 290-horsepower engine?

 

Art

Alex Cormack wreathes night scenes in darkness in Drive Like Hell #1. Highlights glare yellow and orange wreathes a skull on a red Firebird's hood as ocher dominates pages. Stubble adorns Bobby Rae's chin in this long sideburn era as he reads the latest news about Watergate. The wide-eyed Clyde saw Dahlia as his blonde bombshell Bonnie. Now, Bobby Rae hunches as he grips the steering wheel with both hands. Neither wears the three-point seatbelts mandated by the federal government that year.

 

Some scenes in Drive Like Hell #1 feel like atmospheric paintings. Others resemble colored pencil sketches. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou roars through these clashing art styles with expressive and haunting lettering. The uppercase dialogue is easy to read. Rough and flowing sound effects fill our ears with roaring engines, squealing tires, and blaring sirens as agents of our world and the one below nip at Bobby Rae’s heels.

 

Strap in, Bobby Rae. It's going to be a wild night!

 

Final Thoughts

When a bank job goes wrong, cops and demons chase a getaway car with supernatural powers in Drive Like Hell #1.

 

Rating 8.4/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.