Action Lab Entertainment 2016
Written & Lettered by Steve Bryant
Illustrated by Mark Stegbauer
Coloured by Jason Millet
Colour Assists by Drew Browne
Showdown at the Eastside Horror House! The Scouts battle their way to the epicenter of the zombie outbreak, but can they stop it before the town is lost forever? The fate of Full Moon Hollow rests in their hands.
Oh my goodness I am a huge fan of this series. It’s just the right amount of cute, creepy and all-ages fun. Steve’s got a way of telling a good tale here as the kids have finally come together to work as a team and form that bond. The characterisation hasn’t waivered throughout and while this is the end of the first installment there will be more to come so now it’s a franchise.
While not as sophisticated as The Three Investigators or Nancy Drew that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the adventures. These kids have stepped up to the plate, shown some deductive reasoning skill and go to save the town despite any threat to their personal well being. All the while this eclectic mix of kids show us that no matter who you are, what you’re into or what gender is learning to work together is worth the initial awkwardness in the end. Find your strength and embrace it no matter what anyone tells you and when you meet people that will go to bat for you don’t let them go.
I do like that they know that adults are either purposefully ignoring, forgetting or going crazy knowing the strange happenings in Full Moon Hollow. I wonder if they’ll find out more about Ms. Chung and her version of the Ghoul Scouts as their investigations go forward. First they have to get to that house, find that flower and survive the zombies that roam around standing in their way!
I do like that this issue shows us that there’s something that is pulling the strings of all the strange happenings in town. Hopefully that remains as much a mystery throughout the arcs since that should be the final revelation for them. Not surprisingly within feet of their goal they encounter Mad Scientist Mason! What role is he to play here you’ll have to read and find out.
The interiors are great for the all-ages look and feel of this series. While personally i’d like to see more backgrounds it’s nice to see the more wholesome somewhat geeky look of the characters. That they each have their own individual look to them on goes to show that having a diverse group of friends is possible. The flow of the books page layouts with angles and perspective was done extremely well. Plus the zombies really were creepy looking and kept that all-ages tone to them which isn’t easy to do.
Action Lab is home to some of the best all-ages off kilter stories around their diverse range of books and genre’s make them an industry leader in my humble opinion as they are entertaining and educational!