Action Lab: Danger Zone 2015
Written by Shawn Gabborin
Illustrated by Michela De Sacco
Coloured by Yann Perrelet
Last issue the puppets picked human counterparts and made a deal with a gypsy woman to take their place. After the issue ended with them gathered is where we pick up this issue. After a spell is performed all the essences in the puppets go into the human hosts. So for the first time in a very long time they are human once again but this gypsy lady is shady as all get out and there has to be an ulterior motive beyond the one she gave them. That she wanted the puppets once they were done while plausible after what we witnessed last issue it still isn’t enough for me and whatever Shawn has up his sleeve is guaranteed to be nothing like what we are seeing here.
You have to admire Michela and Yann’s work here too. They really do a phenomenal job in bringing these characters, the real people, to life. These folks look like people you see on the street and it’s that kind of authenticity that makes what they do so appealing.
I really am impressed and loving how Shawn is telling this story. The youngest of them slips out not unnoticed by the rest and Andre’s assessment of him well it should be taken as a clue. Sure it’s kind of horrific that they’ve gone and supplanted the people they’ve possessed and have their lives back again but what’s the larger cost? That one decides he’s too attached to the Jester to let him go is another telling sign that over the decades they’ve really formed an attachment to who they were.
While I still don’t trust Madam Adon the story really is about the puppets. Shawn really has managed to creep me out with the youngest of them. What we see here from him tells the tale of him and where he came from and that he was unstable long before being bonded with a puppet. We also see that perhaps they rushed their choice in humans too quickly as well as Pinhead in 18 wheeler is stopped by the cops and his cargo called into question. Could this have been a set-up sure but why? To keep him in town and not let him get too far away but again why?
That Shawn is both combining the characters trying to celebrate their new lives and intertwining it with their past is being done incredibly well. This is at it’s core a horror story and the subtlety to it just makes it creepy as all get out. He raises new questions and new possibilities where the puppets are concerned and if Andre himself is really the cause of their centuries old affliction. It kind of feels like we’re heading more towards this horrific demonic side of the puppets that can operate without them inside.
Far more interesting than the movies with much more ability for characterization and exploration this series really does blend fascination and creepy in a delightful way. The ever changing cast of human characters whom we never know will survive keeps us coming back. That the puppets themselves can express emotion and deliver their own brand of creepy, thanks to Michela and Yann, is another huge factor as to why we love and fear them. I’m sure many people have a fear of dolls thanks to this franchise and I wouldn’t be surprised if more followed suit after reading this series.
Thrilling, scary and all kinds of incredible storytelling make this a breakout hit!