
Action Lab Danger Zone 2016
Written by Tim Seeley
Illustrated by Romina Moranelli
Coloured by Marcelo Costa
Lettered by Dave Dwonch
Light years from Earth on a backwater planet, gunfights and frontier justice are the unforgiving law of the land. When it was discovered the town of Oblivion held one of the universe’s most sought after prizes, a mineral by the name of Deaconium. Power-hungry alien desperados challenged the townsfolk and lawmen to a winner-takes-all battle that would determine the fate of the galaxy. Sheriff Zack Stone rose to the task, stood his ground, and defeated the invaders--but it’s been a little too quiet since that fateful day….
In the mood for an outer space spaghetti western with interesting characters, solid interior artwork and a classic premise? Then look no further this is the secret to Full Moon Features cult classic that revisits Oblivion so that we get to see what they’re up to now.
Things are pretty normal in this frontier style town as the folks mine Deaconium work and live, steal and kill, and pretty much live the whole lifestyle of an out of the way town with few prospects. That all changes when Liz Azorr breezes into town and wants to go hunting for buried treasure particularly Red Eye’s. Now all would’ve been cool had she not told the assembled townsfolk she was his daughter because then all hell broke loose and now it’s time for Zack and his crew to protect Liz from the town and find the treasure.
This isn’t rocket science but Tim takes it and gives it this fun twist with a zest for life and adventure that’s worthy of the genre(s). The characterization is extremely good and the pacing of the story is fast and easy to follow. You don’t have to be familiar with the movie to enjoy this as we learn pretty much everything we need to this issue.
I find it funny that Liz knowing the kind of man her father was is naive and ditzy enough to have blurted out about him being her dad and then wonder why the Sheriff doesn’t shoot the townsfolk wanting to shoot her. Suddenly it’s a whole different kind of free for all as the sins of the father are passed on to the daughter and it does make for a few moments of sheer delight in the story.
Romina’s eye for storytelling is great. I love seeing her take on these aliens and how humanoid they can be, the headphones and the clothing are delightful. The way at least one working girl shows her true form in the pet shop, full of great exotic animals that showcase her imagination and creativity, was a highlight. The use of pages and panels with the angles and perspective shown controlled the flow of the story nicely. Oh and the use of backgrounds is something i’m a strong fan of so what we got was great to see to flesh out moments even more.
Who knew a sci-fi spaghetti western could be this much fun and not totally campy? The creative team do an excellent job making this a fun distraction for the craziness you see on the news and letting you escape into a place to smile, laugh and shake your head at!