Action Lab Entertainment 2017
Written by Vito Delsante
Illustrated by Ares Taveras
Coloured by Wilson Ramos Jr
Lettered by Full Court Press
New York City is on the edge of a citywide riot. After searching New York City for Anya Reddick (now known as Ingenue), Stray has found her in the ruins of Hoosen Academy, the place where the Teenaegis was “born” and where he first met her. But she’s not alone. She is backed by an alien group that has never been seen on Earth before. Stray is going to need a little help.
Toy Boy Toy Boy Toy Boy oh my stars and garters please tell me that he’s not just appearing courtesy of Tom and Spinner Rack and that he’s going to be popping up time and again. Just the fact that this character was thought of and to be included within these pages and this story brings me unimaginable joy, he’s the only “indie” character tattooed on my body.
Okay so many have tried and few have succeeded in making their own version of the Teen Titans or New Mutants over the years. Both those series had that right mix of characters and creators at the right moment in history to pull of something magical. Vito however has found his own place in history that along with his skills as a writer has managed to create something similar and made it his own. Teen heroes now grown up and getting that look back at their start with plenty of in-between to explore Vito has brought us what we’ve been craving. Smart, intelligent storytelling where growing up isn’t easy and being a teen hero wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Aside from absolutely stellar characterisation Vito proves he’s also got the writing chops to create a story of such magnitude that it requires all the costumes the world has yeah it’s so gosh darn good. The ebb & flow of the story is amazing to see as the structure of the book is creates this incredible ease of reading. From kids to adults, friends to associates (oh there is a history there that begs for more air time) and an uneasy allegiance where the two know too much about each other is the kind of stuff that makes it onto soap opera’s and to see that playing out so well here well I have to hand it to Vito it’s bloody brilliant.
Ares is a heck of a find for an illustrator. I like his work as it fits into the style Action Lab is known for but it’s also got that classic superhero feel to as well. He’s got some fine attention to detail happening on the pages and his use of page layouts through their angles and perspective showcase a strong eye for storytelling. Also he’s got a great sense when it comes to utilising backgrounds here and I love seeing that as they really do enhance the story when they are used. He brings a great eye to the characters and how we see them in action and it’s a great thing.
Teenaegis is still active and the current line-up makes an appearance since the whole thing that’s going down here is related to their first case. So whether Rodney likes it or not he needs them and they need him. Also Rodney likes to do things his way so he’s involving Midnight Tiger someone he knows he work with now and depend on.
Oh and just in case you wanted to know seeing Rodney play detective and working things out in a way that is spectacular also happens in this issue. I am over the moon happy to see that Vito is involving the entire Actionverse in this so it helps to establish not only who’s who but where they fit into the scheme of things.
This my friends is what a book featuring a former sidekick should be like. This is what fans of teen team books from the 80’s should be reading!