Action Lab Danger Zone 2019
Written by Rylend Grant
Illustrated by Davi Leon Dias
Colourd by Iwan Joko Triyono
Lettered by HdE
CHAPTER 3: FINAL JEOPARDY.
A crisis of conscience, a snake in the grass, and a Jacob’s Ladder scenario… As Nelson Little makes a bold political play to pull David and Cordrey from both literal and proverbial fires, his closest confidant moves to usurp him. A dying Rook imagines himself as a contestant on a delightfully twisted autobiographical proxy for a popular TV quiz show. Oh, yeah… and we finally meet the guy behind the guy behind the Article 13 guy…
Rylend has made a fan out of me for his work in comics and I have to say that sometimes I surprise myself with what I enjoy. This issue however kind of sums up exactly why I am fan of his though and the whole idea that the cover actually has a direct link in what we see inside just pushes that over the edge. The fact that he can interject humour this way is sensational and I get it, it isn’t your typical frat boy humour it’s dark humour or as my mother used to say British humour. Don’t know why she just did but since my Grandmother was born in London I trusted her judgement, though it is definitely a thinking man’s humour and that’s so me.
I am rather enjoying the way this issue is structured as it weaves through the story. The story & plot development that we are seeing here is sensational with this stellar pacing. At first I was thinking that parts of the story were actually still taking place inside Rook’s head but then after a bit I realised that they weren’t and the fact I couldn’t tell the difference right away is something that I have to doth my cap towards Rylend. It really does make the story seem more complex, layered and near convoluted but it never crosses over, it remains this strong well thought out and executed book. The characterisation that we are getting was a great surprise as I hadn’t counted on this being such a deeper look into what makes Rook tick but I will admit it does add that perfect amount of drama and understanding that we’ve been missing in regards to him.
The interiors here are wonderfully done. The linework is fantastic and the whole Jeopardy set including the General as Trebek, I mean that is genius and executed flawlessly. The likenesses don’t stop there but you’ll have to read the book to understand why but suffice it to say that I am totally impressed with what Davi is doing here. I am also super impressed with how we see the composition in the panels and even more so with the way backgrounds are being utilised. They really make the scenes pop and expand the whole size and scope of the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective show such a nice, strong eye for storytelling. The colour work here is really nice to see as well as there is some really talented work going on all over the place.
There are a number of things about this series that catch you off guard. Each person will find what that is on their own but suffice it to say that the connection that the reader forms with this story will determine who they bond with. There are enough nuggets of information for you to find someone who you either relate to, or wish you were depending on who you are. Any way that you cut the dice there is a whole lot of something going on behind the scenes where people will find your weakness, betray you or rip you in half, literally. Action Lab Danger Zone is home to some of the best new talent you’ll see in the business and high time you discovered them!