Dry Foot #1: Coming Together

Dry Foot #1 is a story rooted in the characters and the environment. Set in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida, during the 1980s Dry Foot follows four Hispanic teens of different background. It does not shy away from these roots letting period reference flesh out the characters and acknowledging the culture of the characters immediately.

Jarred Luján lays a lot of groundwork in this opening issue. We meet the villain of the story before anything else, El Viejo is the leader of the Los Marielitos and a brutal killer in his own right. It is only after this is established that we meet our team of protagonists. Luján manages to weave the story around these four. Mariana is the no-nonsense tomboy. Angel is the big guy with a gentle heart. Fabian is the ladies man who is more bark than bite. And Diego is the desperate dreamer with a plane. While their personalities are clear on first appearance but as the comic progresses, their depth is revealed.

Orlando Caicedo and Warnia Sahadewa use their art to add further depth. The concept of their bold plan requires each character to agree. Their agreement comes from a place of desperation. Their words don’t portray this as they each don’t speak of their situations, but their expressions of guilt, despair, or hope tell a story the dialogue does not. Also worth noting is the letter work of Justin Birch that further enhances the story by adding nuance and clarity to the dialogue and sound effects.