After making its debut on Bob Marley's 65th birthday, February 6, 2010, the sixth issue of the comic book series 'Dread & Alive' hit news-stands in mid-May.
Dread & Alive is dubbed the first comic book with a Jamaican superhero, Drew McIntosh, and the sixth issue sees him discovering that things are not what they appear to be in a warehouse where his nemesis Gryphon had been.
The comic is conceived and drawn by Nicholas da Silva, with Joshua Chamberlin responsible for the accompanying CD with each issue, 'The Lost Tapes'. The current CD has nine tracks, including Rootz Underground's Special Place, Bushman's I Believe, Melodic's Ride On Natty, Foot Loose by Wio K, featuring Tasha Rozez and Heart of Stone by Taddy P and Tanya Stephens.
Under a month after the release of Dread & Alive #6, da Silva says "the response has been great! I really enjoy the fact that my fans are really getting into the story as well as the character. They are really interested in what Drew is fighting for, and that means a lot to me."
new fans
Chamberlin notes that there are new fans as well as established ones, saying "I see familiar faces bigging up #6 as well as new ones who just found either the comic or the music. The energy and interest seems to feed on each other, so the response gets bigger and bigger with each issue. With regard to the music in particular, the song selections resonate strongly with the public who now know they can find a song, or an artiste, or a vibe they didn't know before."
Recently Ziggy Marley entered the comic book market withMarijuanaman, which da Silva welcomes. He said "I am aware of the comic book. I actually got to meet with Ziggy when they were promoting the comic book at Comic-Con. I definitely welcome the comic book series and hope that we will see more comic book heroes coming out of Jamaica." Chamberlin points out "it seems that not just comic books, but a visual interpretation of the music in general is important to people. This might be a response aimed at filling in the gaps around the digital world we live in. Still, it's not new; I think of Limonius in the past or Major Lazer more recently, and I expect to see more of it."
However, there is also the matter of getting Dread & Alive into Jamaica and Chamberlin says, "there is interest in Jamaica. We have approached folks while others have approached us, and we are looking forward to that day."
iFrogz collaboration
With Dread & Alive #6, a development in the series is a collaboration with digital platform iFrogz. Da Silva said, "the collaboration with iFrogz and Dread & Alive included the product placement of their earphones in issue #6. Since Dread & Alive is a series that includes a music collective, it was a win/win situation to do a collaboration with iFrogz and tap into the reggae audience who have embraced the consciousness of 'Dread & Alive: The Lost Tapes'".
Chamberlin says the collaboration started through one of the performers on the CD. "The partnership really started with Tasha Rozez, with whom iFrogz initiated a sponsorship relationship earlier this year. I already had plans to feature Tasha on the Lost Tapes compilation and, in communicating with iFrogz, the ideas started flowing. In addition to a contest for Dread & Alive and iFrogz gear, we are about to release an exclusive iFrogz/Dread & Alive music sampler, which Tasha Rozez mixed and (which) will be available for free download only at iFrogz.com," he said.
Chamberlin said that, "with The Lost Tapes we try to be diverse while maintaining a link between all the selections. On Volume 6 there was an effort to showcase a soulful R&B and hip-hop sound which you hear on songs from Taddy P, Tanya Stephens, Kehv, Melodic and the track Wio K did with Tasha Rozez, to name a few. We also try to be geographically diverse to reflect reggae's reach and Volume 6 includes artistes from Amsterdam, Aruba, Puerto Rico, St Croix, Canada and the USA as well as Jamaica. One of the songs on Volume 6 is the Spanish-language Me Mantengo Fuerte, or I Stay Strong by Danny I".
Dread & Alive #7 is due out August 6, 2011, the 49th anniversary of Jamaica's Independence and Chamberlin says the theme for the music will be "independence/freedom".
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