Action Lab Danger Zone 2017
Written by Jason Martin, Dan Mendoza & Bryan Seaton
Illustrated by Celor, Marco Maccagni & Winston Young
Coloured by Richard Garcia, Jason Martin, Chris Northrop & Valentina Pucci
Lettered by Justin Birch
Once upon a time there were three lethal ladies…. Yeah that opening alone was more than enough to make want to read forward. Classic stuff and what a nice doff of the cap to such an iconic franchise that reinvented what it was women could do.
That however is as far as the comparison really goes for me. This isn’t going to be for everyone i’ll say that off the bat it’s very much a cliche of sorts with the geeky guy lusting after women (living in his mother’s basement) and pretty much just showing us how he gets his jollies while simultaneously needing their help to keep him alive. It’s a bit crass at times and the sexual overtones can’t be ignored as they are a main component of the story.
I do like this issue for a number of reasons, among them is that we get a good look at the girls and who they are, where they come from and what motivates them. Plus we see how they’ve interacted before through the glimpses given so if you haven’t read these books it’s a perfect way to “meet” them. Quick concise and extremely well presented it does a nice job of not only presenting these girls to us but explaining how and why they are being brought together in the first place.
There really is something about the interiors here that continues to amaze and thrill me. I mean there really is this whole all-ages quality to it’s style but the subject matter, style of dress and constant loss of said clothes that makes it extremely adult in nature. It’s the dueling dichotomy that shouldn’t exist but does which makes this so immediately recognizable. Then of course there’s the use of page layouts through the utilisation of angles, perspective and even backgrounds that help tell the fuller story that words alone can’t do.
The characterisation is great and that we get to see the inherent differences in each girl and what they represent is half the fun here. I mean a zombie, a vampire and witch hunter stuck in basically a bionic doll body yeah you couldn’t have a more diverse grouping of characters. While each one has her own unique personality trait it’ll be interesting to see how they are used to bounce off each other. The banter, interaction and clashes in personality and sheer nature are going to be as exciting as the reason they’ve been brought together in the first place.
This is the kind of insane adult crass humour fun that should highly offend you but instead makes you laugh and giggle at it’s absurdity. The stories are extremely well told and you can feel the fun and passion these creators have for these characters. It’s that infectious sense of fun that bleeds through and makes this something I feel good recommending.