Action Lab Entertainment 2016
Written by Vito Delsante
Illustrated by Steve Walker
Coloured by Wilson Ramos Jr.
Lettered by Full Court Press
Time’s up! Cascade has unleashed the power of the portal engine and the world begins to shake. Molly Danger and her friends are the only ones left to stop him. All. Hope. Is. LOST.
Well all I have to say is wow! Now this is how to do a company wide crossover event with majority of your characters. It not only establishes which heroes live and work beside each other but has opened the door for the multitude of possible universes out there where we can see more stories where the characters can team up and form something of the world’s greatest superheroes.
Vito really goes above and beyond here with the characterization. Molly, physically, the youngest of them all being “team leader” is by far one of the most fascinating group dynamics i’ve seen in comics today. Also by using arguably the three weakest members of those assembled to stop Cascade’s portal engine we see that the true measure of a hero isn’t the power he, or she, possesses but their ability to use teamwork and think things through.
I’ll say this much the way we see things play out here definitely set the stage for future stories in a way I had expected. Yes Jacob is the catalyst for the heroics of Medula has put into play. For a full explanation of how this indeed plays out you must read this series because of all the intercompany crossovers i’ve even seen this one is by far the best out there. Still everything that happens is presented well within the characters personalities and decisions for their future growth. There is not one person who participated in this adventure that hasn’t come out changed in one way or another.
As Molly addresses the world after this adventure and the near destruction of their world and we see where the heroes and villains of this story are afterwards you begin to understand the real scope of what these folks were trying to do. The last page is one where i’m hoping we’ll have a follow up on since it would seem that they together could be one of the greatest forces for good in this galaxy. I also like the way it has a definite ending for one character but the potential for that character to be reborn in a new and different way.
Steve and Wilson do an admirable job on the interiors. It’s got to be difficult to draw other people’s creations and try to keep up with them throughout this run. Sure there are some tweaks that could’ve been made but Steve has a good strong eye for storytelling and how to use the pages and panels for that. The attention to detail he brings was nice to see, the use of backgrounds was great and the different viewpoints we’re given had a nice touch to them. Plus the entire issue felt like classic comic book art and there’s always an appreciation for that.
Action Lab just schooled everyone on doing a crossover, keep it in one story, i.e. no individual series books crossed over into the main one, use the characters smartly and keep them true to who they are and get it out on time. This limited series is one for the record books and it should be staple reading.