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Drive #1
Drive: Act One
DRIVE tells the story of a Second Spanish Empire, a galactic empire, and its looming war with a race called "The Continuum of Makers". Humanity has built its empire using technology stolen from the Makers—and these creatures want it back with an almost religious fervor.
In the brewing war, it's clear that humanity will lose, and lose badly, unless they can find some advantage in battle. That hope arrives in the form of a tiny, mysterious creature who can drive a starship like no one's ever seen. Now all humanity needs to do... is find 10,000 more pilots just like him.
But no one knows where he's from.
In the brewing war, it's clear that humanity will lose, and lose badly, unless they can find some advantage in battle. That hope arrives in the form of a tiny, mysterious creature who can drive a starship like no one's ever seen. Now all humanity needs to do... is find 10,000 more pilots just like him.
But no one knows where he's from.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2017
7 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Dave Kellett
31 books104 followersDave Kellett is the cartoonist of "Sheldon" (http://www.sheldoncomics.com).
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 1, 2018
Drive is a shining star, showing what comics are capable of achieving. It blends flavours of humour, space opera, political intrigue, tragedy, and history into a tapestry of a world that is at once wonderful and awesome. This first volume collects a number of historical documents that provide background information and detail (as well as the occasional laugh) of the complex and intricate universe Kellett has created, a number of short stories contributed by guest authors and artists, each providing a new look at the characters and setting of the series, and the core of thrilling adventure and intrigue of the Drive epic (generously salted with more laughs, of course).
It is Kellett's ability to make characters that are both hilarious and serious that makes this series special. Every character - even the comic relief - has depth: Skritter, the amnesiac alien pilot whose story starts the main arc of the narrative; the grizzled captain Taneel, who would just like her crew and her ship to all remain functional, and not cause her too many headaches while she waits for the universe to implode around her; Nosh the cuddly giant alien science officer with the strange Russian accent due to a backstory involving being stuck in Moscow for six years because he had no cab fare.
It is Kellett's ability to make characters that are both hilarious and serious that makes this series special. Every character - even the comic relief - has depth: Skritter, the amnesiac alien pilot whose story starts the main arc of the narrative; the grizzled captain Taneel, who would just like her crew and her ship to all remain functional, and not cause her too many headaches while she waits for the universe to implode around her; Nosh the cuddly giant alien science officer with the strange Russian accent due to a backstory involving being stuck in Moscow for six years because he had no cab fare.
March 16, 2019
I fell in love with Dave Kellet's art and storytelling style with his strip Sheldon, a long long time ago when I had the time to read daily comics. I can remember when Drive launched.
But then life happened and I never got back to it.
This was a tactical error on my part.
Drive is a delicious mix of humor and heartbreak, a grandmotherly taking-no-crap human captain, two other humans that are in La Familia (the government) and all kinds of other aliens. The most important of the aliens are a Russian-accented Veeta the size of a rhino, and a tiny we-don't-know-what named Skitter.
The thesis underpinning the story is that Skitter could conceivably save the human race and their empire by becoming pilots in their military. But there are mafias, planets full of dumb bullies, a parasitic-virus-based race spreading through the galaxy, a very very pissed-off group of aliens looking to regain stolen tech, and, well, space to deal with.
This book is the first act of the story. You will not want to read it without also getting your hands on the second act, which is now also available.
(Well, I mean, you could, but you'll be like WHYYYYYY)
The art is fantastic, the storyline paced well for such a long arc, the switching of points-of-view to different places and times used to great effectiveness. The story is occasionally interrupted with important notes, historical elements, pages from an encyclopedia, and foreshadowing.
Oh the foreshadowing.
I inhaled this book in less than a day and as soon as I am done this review I'm starting Act 2.
But then life happened and I never got back to it.
This was a tactical error on my part.
Drive is a delicious mix of humor and heartbreak, a grandmotherly taking-no-crap human captain, two other humans that are in La Familia (the government) and all kinds of other aliens. The most important of the aliens are a Russian-accented Veeta the size of a rhino, and a tiny we-don't-know-what named Skitter.
The thesis underpinning the story is that Skitter could conceivably save the human race and their empire by becoming pilots in their military. But there are mafias, planets full of dumb bullies, a parasitic-virus-based race spreading through the galaxy, a very very pissed-off group of aliens looking to regain stolen tech, and, well, space to deal with.
This book is the first act of the story. You will not want to read it without also getting your hands on the second act, which is now also available.
(Well, I mean, you could, but you'll be like WHYYYYYY)
The art is fantastic, the storyline paced well for such a long arc, the switching of points-of-view to different places and times used to great effectiveness. The story is occasionally interrupted with important notes, historical elements, pages from an encyclopedia, and foreshadowing.
Oh the foreshadowing.
I inhaled this book in less than a day and as soon as I am done this review I'm starting Act 2.
September 16, 2020
This material originated as a webcomic, which is where I had been reading it, but I recently sat down to re-read the material in book form, straight through, and came to appreciate the way the story is written. This is hard SF, but combined with outrageous humor, alien races, weird technology, even weirder politics, and a whole bunch of other things.
Basically, an alien spaceship crashed in Spain and changed the course of history, and that seemed like a good thing until the aliens whose ship it was came around, upset at the accidental transfer of technology...or is there more to the story than that?
Humans, barely understanding the FTL tech that they back-engineered, find themselves at war with an old empire and maybe some others as well, but weirdly enough, this is not a war story at its heart. The central story is that of a single ship and its crew, including a small, amnesiac alien who might be the solution to Earth's problems...if only he could remember where he came from.
One of the most wonderful things about this story is the way that Dave Kellett has thought out the various aliens, to the point where having a rather large, very strong alien get stranded in Russia somehow seems only slightly odd, even though it leaves him with a truly bizarre accent and a taste for Russian pastries.
If you read this book, do NOT skip over the text parts, because those are encyclopedia entries relevant to the plot. Just because that encyclopedia doesn't exist yet is no reason to not read it...
Basically, an alien spaceship crashed in Spain and changed the course of history, and that seemed like a good thing until the aliens whose ship it was came around, upset at the accidental transfer of technology...or is there more to the story than that?
Humans, barely understanding the FTL tech that they back-engineered, find themselves at war with an old empire and maybe some others as well, but weirdly enough, this is not a war story at its heart. The central story is that of a single ship and its crew, including a small, amnesiac alien who might be the solution to Earth's problems...if only he could remember where he came from.
One of the most wonderful things about this story is the way that Dave Kellett has thought out the various aliens, to the point where having a rather large, very strong alien get stranded in Russia somehow seems only slightly odd, even though it leaves him with a truly bizarre accent and a taste for Russian pastries.
If you read this book, do NOT skip over the text parts, because those are encyclopedia entries relevant to the plot. Just because that encyclopedia doesn't exist yet is no reason to not read it...
May 17, 2017
I can't remember where I found out about this webcomic, but I got drawn in fairly rapidly and when I found out about the Kickstarter to print an omnibus of the first "act", how could I say no?
The story follows the captain and crew of the good ship Machito, on the run from the Empire at the start of the book, as they break their science officer out of a prison planet, along with a new buddy who's lost his memory but could end up being the key to winning the coming war against an alien race called the Continuum of Makers.
The characters here are fun, especially the marvellous Nosh, an alien who spent six years stranded in Moscow and now speaks English with an outrageous Russian accent. The setting is very much part of what makes the story though, and it's unusual in having Spain be the seat of the Human empire, not the more usual current Great Powers. I also like the structure of the empire, having arisen from an engineer, and the idea that they still control the secret of FTL travel and hoard that secret with the lives of the entire extended imperial family. The aliens are also generally interesting, from Nosh's gentle Veetans, through the multi-species Vinn to the fascinating but enigmatic Continuum.
Lots of fun, but also a strong story in there too, backed by the well-worn (but for a reason!) trope of crewmates as family.
The story follows the captain and crew of the good ship Machito, on the run from the Empire at the start of the book, as they break their science officer out of a prison planet, along with a new buddy who's lost his memory but could end up being the key to winning the coming war against an alien race called the Continuum of Makers.
The characters here are fun, especially the marvellous Nosh, an alien who spent six years stranded in Moscow and now speaks English with an outrageous Russian accent. The setting is very much part of what makes the story though, and it's unusual in having Spain be the seat of the Human empire, not the more usual current Great Powers. I also like the structure of the empire, having arisen from an engineer, and the idea that they still control the secret of FTL travel and hoard that secret with the lives of the entire extended imperial family. The aliens are also generally interesting, from Nosh's gentle Veetans, through the multi-species Vinn to the fascinating but enigmatic Continuum.
Lots of fun, but also a strong story in there too, backed by the well-worn (but for a reason!) trope of crewmates as family.
February 27, 2018
Drive is everything you ever wanted in a story, all in one beautiful, perfect package.
It's intelligent, human, moving, delightful, serious, silly, deep, richly imagined, easy to read, hard to put down, and impossible to forget.
And I don't even like science fiction.
Somehow the story manages to fold such a well-thought-out world, meaningful pathos and epic adventure into a pleasant, fun-to-read, almost light package.
I'd accuse Dave Kellet of witchcraft, but I don't want him to stop writing.
And the artwork. Oh golly, the Artwork!
If you can't buy the book, go to http://www.drivecomic.com/ and read the work online.
Look, just go read it, okay? And then call up everybody you know, and tell them to go read it. They'll thank you later.
It's intelligent, human, moving, delightful, serious, silly, deep, richly imagined, easy to read, hard to put down, and impossible to forget.
And I don't even like science fiction.
Somehow the story manages to fold such a well-thought-out world, meaningful pathos and epic adventure into a pleasant, fun-to-read, almost light package.
I'd accuse Dave Kellet of witchcraft, but I don't want him to stop writing.
And the artwork. Oh golly, the Artwork!
If you can't buy the book, go to http://www.drivecomic.com/ and read the work online.
Look, just go read it, okay? And then call up everybody you know, and tell them to go read it. They'll thank you later.
December 27, 2020
It was good! I appreciate the author so much in the podcast Comic Lab that I felt compelled to try out his longform story. I enjoyed the first volume and will keep an eye out for sales on volume #2! Sometimes the story moved along so quickly I had some trouble keeping characters tied to motivations, but considering this is a long-form story told regularly in short releases then compiled into this volume, I think the continuity is fine. Planning for two very different reading speeds (weeks/months apart AND all-at-once) is its own thing, eek.
I was particularly impressed by the additional stories after Kellett's arc concluded -- really felt the bonus stories helped me understand the characters better.
I was particularly impressed by the additional stories after Kellett's arc concluded -- really felt the bonus stories helped me understand the characters better.
May 15, 2017
I love the characters and complex world-building of this comic. I'm a fan of the rag-tag crew of misfits in space genre. This story has a strong ensemble cast and plenty of extras for fans to dig into about the backstory and traits of the different aliens species, etc. The short stories by guest artists at the end were fantastic as well. The humor is spot-on, as I'd expect from Kellett. I wish the story could unfold faster!
May 25, 2022
Lots of good jokes and fantastic characters. Nosh, in particular, is very lovable. The story is interesting, but does have some pacing and flow issues primarily caused by this being a web comic and prioritizing gags at expense of story at times. Which is fine, the book knows what it is and doesn't try and hide it. I'm looking forward to reading more and spending more time with these characters!
September 8, 2017
Drive is a collection of strips from a web comic created by the artist behind the Sheldon web comic, both equally enjoyable! It's a comic about space and secret organizations and fascinating species from far flung corners of the galaxy.
January 4, 2018
I'm a sucker for space opera comics. I lived in Peru for 2 years and I have a deep appreciation for Hispanic culture. This comic melded these so perfectly. The worldbuilding is amazing, and it's so easy to get lost in these worlds.
April 23, 2019
I really need a Nosh plushie.
September 8, 2021
A mish mash of a bunch of stuff and yet still truly original. Great characters that make the large premise of the story personal. Looking forward to volumes 2 & 3.
August 10, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this epic space opera that doesn’t always take itself seriously. I do have a hard time connecting with the second Armada mythos, perhaps because I know so little of the first. So I ended up skipping the text interludes.
November 16, 2023
Retroactive Review (16 Nov 2023): I am such a huge fan of these webcomic, I can hardly contain myself. I love the "bluescale" art, I love the characters, and I love the lore that Kellett introduces. You can tell it's a labor of love.
June 9, 2025
Fantastic, funny sci-fi. Love everything Kellett is doing with La Familia, the crew of the Machito, and the alien races he introduced along the way.
April 7, 2017
Collection of the webcomic Drive. Well drawn, amusing space opera with just the right level of seriousness.
April 22, 2017
The premise is interesting and there are some really unique concepts (like a race that is able to see gravity and the dominating force on Earth being Spanish). But as a whole this book falls flat.
Most of the characters lack memorability, with only the cliched 'gentle giant' sticking out. The 14 year old who has been forced into a position of power never acts, or for that matter even looks, their age. Also despite Spanish control of Earth none of the humans look remotely Hispanic.
What really hurts this book is it's formatting. Anything, be it conversation or joke, must be wrapped up by the end of the page. Like a larger scale newspaper comic strip. Combined with the space opera narrative, this creates an extremely choppy experience. The book as a whole would have benefited from a more continuous story, after all it is hard to develop good characters when you limit that characterization to a single page.
Most of the characters lack memorability, with only the cliched 'gentle giant' sticking out. The 14 year old who has been forced into a position of power never acts, or for that matter even looks, their age. Also despite Spanish control of Earth none of the humans look remotely Hispanic.
What really hurts this book is it's formatting. Anything, be it conversation or joke, must be wrapped up by the end of the page. Like a larger scale newspaper comic strip. Combined with the space opera narrative, this creates an extremely choppy experience. The book as a whole would have benefited from a more continuous story, after all it is hard to develop good characters when you limit that characterization to a single page.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews