Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Lou Iovino
Illustrated by Diego Galindo
Coloured by Grostieta
Lettered by Fabio Amelia
Britney Waters, aka Red Riding Hood, is recruited by a secret government agency to help take down an extremely dangerous terrorist organization called The Circle. Using the codename “Red Agent,” Britney must locate a hacker named Ditto who may be the only chance the government has at stopping the terrorist group. But The Circle has sent its sadistic laboratory-enhanced soldier Alpha after Ditto, making Britney’s mission much more dangerous than anticipated.
So this first issue was absolutely amazing to me. I love the idea behind this using Red, Britney, as an agent to protect the world, highborns and humans alike. With a pre-existing antagonist in Alpha keeping the world tied together so that the whole thing feels like a Mission Impossible movie makes for great reading. So it’s my hope that we’ll see this mini-series be about Britney gathering her team and stopping Alpha, for now, and establishing herself as one of the world’s foremost spies. Should Lou be able to keep this going the way this first issue went then it really can be another strong ongoing monthly series, or yearly mini-series that keeps Zenescope firmly entrenched as one of today’s best innovators.
The opening is incredible in it’s depiction of violence and intrigue. Yes Alpha’s kidnapping of this girl sets off a string of events that will dictate how this story progresses. The intrigue of who Alpha works for and why he’s doing what he’s doing well it’s definitely something extraordinary.
So seeing Britney heading into a newly reopened NORAD with a tour by the General, no name just General, was handled, see written, extremely well. I loved the dialogue between the two. I have to admit that the General’s idea of having Britney as an agent to lead an elite group instead of just using her, lying to her and trying to manipulate her but having it feel honest and true is something I wasn’t expecting. For whatever reason I actually kind of trust Lou in his reasoning and his actions and that in itself is nice to see considering how often these types aren’t portrayed as understanding or helpful. Granted Lou could throw us all for a huge loop but either way it’s convincing.
So the introduction of Ditto is great. I like the character as he’s one who uses his skills to skirt the law and do things his own way. Using whom he does is his problem he needs training and a team behind him to utilize his skill set. That’s where Britney comes in provided she can get him from Alpha’s clutches. The events that unfold this issue make it clearly evident why he wants Ditto and with how this issue ends it’ll be interesting to see how the chips lay.
Diego and Grostieta do some amazing work on the interiors too. I am a huge fan of the fact that she can be feminine, strong, confident and a badass without looking like she’s wearing a cheap slutty Red Riding Hood costume from Party City. Plus the attention to detail throughout the whole issue by both of them goes a long way to making this as successful as it is. The bullets through water for instance is beautifully done highlighting the use of colours. The use of backgrounds is phenomenal as is the page and panel layouts.
This is the kind of book the world needs about a strong female lead that’s done with respect, intelligence and high octane adventure!