Dread & Alive Comic Book Series
Dread & Alive is the brainchild of Nicholas Da Silva, an artist and a musician, but most importantly, a dreamer. As an avid reader growing up in the U.S. and abroad, Nicholas Da Silva was disappointed in the lack of positive multicultural heroes and fictional characters in American literature. Coming from a diverse background, he made a promise to change that by meshing cultural fact with fiction. The result was the publication of Dread & Alive as a short story in February of 1997. He followed it with the release of a 300 page novel entitled Dread & Alive: Night of the Animals (Book Three).
In creating the Dread & Alive series, Nicholas found inspiration through his love for music, in particular, the sounds of reggae music by Bob Marley, Black Uhuru, Steel Pulse and Third World, to name a few. In writing the story, Nicholas drew inspiration from the history of the Jamaican Maroons, runaway slaves who established free communities in the Cockpit Country.
On February 6, 2010, the 65th anniversary of Bob Marley’s birthday, he released issue #1 of Dread & Alive, in comic book format, to rave reviews. To complete the series, Nicholas began looking for reggae artists whose music expressed the vision behind Dread & Alive and the mindset of its hero, Drew McIntosh. It would take issue #3 to release the first cd series, entitled Dread & Alive: The Lost Tapes.
Nicholas recently released BOOK One of Dread & Alive, the novel. He is currently writing BOOK Two of the 3-part saga which follows Drew’s life in the United States as a teenager making the transformation to the hero he is today. The book will take Drew back to Jamaica where many questions will be answered and a few revelations will unfold.
Dread & Alive is dedicated to the loving memory of his father, Philip Crist Taylor, a great man who was not only his mentor, friend and hero, but also an adventurer who showed Nicholas the real world.
Description:
Having fought the nefarious Shadowcatcher to a standstill, a confrontation that nearly spelled destruction for Jamaica’s fabled Cockpit Country, Drew McIntosh returns home to San Francisco with an injured Cudjoe. Struggling to come to terms with the untamed savagery that hides within him, Drew makes a pact with Jah, vowing to protect the rights of all living things – humans, animals and the Earth from evil in its many form.
But what begins as a quiet nighttime vigil on a rooftop in the Haight-Ashbury for our dreadlocked Eco-warrior soon turns into a night of terror. Drew McIntosh encounters the infamous, Gryphon the Hunter, a ruthless poacher who profits from the illegal animal trade. It’s inevitable: Drew and Gryphon are set to clash in the ultimate showdown between hunter and prey.
But more danger awaits our hero. The evil shape-changer, Shadowcatcher has returned, more obsessed than ever with obtaining the sacred amulet held by Drew. Don’t miss what follows as the legend of Dread & Alive continues in NIGHT OF THE ANIMALS.
