Action Lab Danger Zone 2019
Written by Rylend Grant
Illustrated by Davi Leon Dias
Coloured by Iwan Joko Triyono
Lettered by HdE
CHAPTER 5: END OF THE ROAD.
The whole twisted 10-issue symphony comes to a rousing, cacophonous crescendo. David races to stop Cordrey from making a deal that would gravely affect the balance of power in the world. Garret takes an ugly ride on CON AIR. Rook has a teary-eyed reunion with his beloved parrot, acquires a cracking new pet fish, and then he leaps from a C-130 without a parachute. Although we’ve come… to the end of the road… still I can’t let go…
Well this is the end, for now mind you as the ending here suggests and Rylend you best be listening to me because this isn't over. Cordrey is one sick man and to think in the beginning I kind of liked him what with all the mathematical equations that he had running through that brain of his. Doesn't matter that he's been off since the day we met him he had a certain charm in the banter with David that most of us found endearing. Here in this issue however he's full on off his medications, missing a few crayons from his box crazy and I love every moment of it.
The way we see Davids idea unfold while not exactly crazy is still risky enough to make me wonder how much a death wish the man has. His recruitment of Rook in all this is nicely handled as David has to back-peddle a bit since Rook is as dangerous as they come and while he may not be able to speak he's been done wrong by so many he's still volatile when approached wrong. More so since the man has found himself a place where he can finally be happy again. Still that we see David keep his word to him speaks volumes about him.
The way that Rylend has structured this is extremely well done. The pacing is done so that we see it carry the story & plot development and the character development forward to the end. The story weaves in and out between David's plot line and Cordrey's and while is solid with level headed thinking, if not outside the box, the other shows such an unstable mind which just makes him that much more dangerous in the long run. That along with the characterisation that we see which never stops growing and evolving is what sets this apart from it's closest peers.
I am an aficionado of the interiors here. The linework is strong and how we see the varying weights utilised and manipulated to create this amazing attention to detail is always a thrill to see. That we see this amount of backgrounds being utilised shows that Davi understands the importance of how they expand the moments and bring a sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us an extremely talented eye for storytelling. I am also impressed with the colour work here as well. There are moments such seeing all that purple in those wings which utilised hues and tones to really make it feel more magnificent. The way that flesh tones are utilised to bring out the musculature of the characters is incredibly well done. There is a lot of excellent work being done here.
I like how this ends however I do feel like we never did get a proper chance to see the former President's Club be expanded upon properly. Here's hoping what we see means there will be a chance to see how that club was formed and how it's shaped countless policies that no one has ever known about. Then there's Celia, that conniving well bitch who thinks of herself as more grandiose than she actually is. I would love to see her taken down more than a few pegs and dealt with harshly. See I have so much more of this that I want to see and this is Rylend's fault for creating something of this magnitude.