Action Lab Danger Zone 2017
Written by Shawn Gabborin
Illustrated by Daniel J. Logan
Coloured by Yann Perrelet
The end is now! It is up to the puppets not only to save their master, but the entire world! Will they succeed… and will they even survive?? Join us for the finale of Danger Zone’s epic Puppet Master series.
This saddens me more than I thought it would. It is like the end of an era and one of the first things that brought me to the attention of Shawn’s talent as a writer. Not to mention the fact that this series and franchise have become one of the highlights of reading for me. While I get that everything has runs its course and when it’s time to be done it’s done. That doesn’t mean we or I have to like that but I will say that I hope Shawn’s got something new and big like this (okay not exactly but you get the idea) on the horizon.
Back to the story at hand well when we left Anthony was taken over and his body transformed by Anapa. His father was there to help Anapa and Cedar is seemingly hopeless to do anything to help. It looks bad for our gang is miscreants and after all they’ve been through together well I'd like to see a happy ending for them however whether or not that’s in the cards is something you’ll have to see for yourself. In the meantime it’s time for an all out no holds barred fight to the finish between Anapa and Anthony while their Puppets do battle with each others and be prepared to be shocked and amazed by what you see!
From day one I have been a fan of the way Shawn has structured the book. He is able to create a really good ebb & flow the story that helps us move throughout the issue keeping tensions high and the interest and intrigue factors up there too. There really never is a dull moment regardless if we’re getting some stellar characterisation or if the Puppets are on a rampage there is always something going on. Over the years we’ve seen people come and go trying to wrest control of the Puppets and use them for their own nefarious purposes and time and again they’ve failed.
Daniel does an amazing job on the interiors and the imagination and creativity on display here is phenomenal! The use of page layouts so we can see the angles and perspective in the panels they show a strong eye for storytelling. While I would like to have seen more backgrounds being utilised here just the fact that there’s so much emotion coming from the pages will have to suffice. Between he and Yann they manage to make the Puppets and the people come to life and be as creepy as they can be.
So there is the portion of the story where we get to see Anapa’s powers being expanded in such a way that it makes me want to see more. I mean if he’s capable of doing that then hell I so want to see that kind of havoc that it can wreck! See even though I know this is the finale I’m still seeing the effects that Shawn’s writing has and my mind cannot stop seeing the possibilities that are being presented. I mean there is always the hope that Action Lab retains the right to keep making these stories and that Shawn revisits it down the road even if that’s just a pipe dream it’s the power of the writing.
This really has done franchise justice and has kept it alive and well while also driving me to revisit the films. For me this is one of the best translations from film to page that I’ve seen and I have been doing this a long time now. I’m going to miss this it really has been an exceptional series since the first issue hit stands. Wondering what the next thing from these guys will be because I know it’s going to be good.