Action Lab Danger Zone 2016
Written by Rob Harrington
Illustrated by Axur Eneas
Coloured by Alessandro Alessi
Lettered by Chas! Pangburn
As Christmas Day dawns, Sleigher must use his newfound yuletide powers to stop a troll witch from devouring the souls of the world's innocent children. Countless lives and (far more importantly) the glory of heavy metal itself, hang in the balance.
First of all this is some excellent adult potty humour! From the opening where Gryla snorts souls using a dollar to being smacked in the face with yellow snow this is the kind of humour we never outgrow. Granted we don’t always say it’s the humour we like but nonetheless it’s what makes us laugh out loud each and every time. Besides if we can’t laugh at the silliness even when it’s over the top like this then there’s a problem, with so much negativity happening in the world right now it’s books like this that we need more than ever!
Even better however is seeing Gryla going after all these kids we’ve raised to be self-entitled. One on hand you can see her point these spoiled brats need a lesson but it’s up to Sleigher to teach them the right one about the spirit of the season. Okay yes we all want to see these brats with their attitudes sucked dry i’m not gonna lie about that but she should go after the parents who teach them and let them be that way not the kiddies who still have time to learn to be better human beings than their folks ever were! Okay I digress let chaos reign!
Axur and Alessandro do some wondrous work on the interiors here. I mean aside from the heavy metal Santa you’ve got these elves with their own attitudes, and Gryla and her children who well represent all the stereotypes around. It’s still great to see and the creativity and imagination on display bringing all this to life is fantastic. The use of page layouts with angles, perspective and backgrounds really help control the flow of the story and bring about all the right mood, feel and tones we need to experience.
As the fight for the spirit of the season is in full swing it’s nice to see that Sleigher himself has finally found a way to understand his old man and the family legacy. I wanna say there are deeper lessons to learn and that there’s a whole purpose of finding who you are through adversity even when you don’t want to admit to yourself you're destined for something and yes you can infer that from the story but in all reality this is an excuse to just cut loose with potty humour, dwarves with foul language and two tons of fun to be had through crass humour.
To be honest I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is hysterically funny, full of inappropriate dialogue and situations not to mention just some foul loud mouthing goodness that simply makes you laugh out loud. This is the epitome of an adult funny book. It’s everything we’re supposed to scoff at and say we’re too mature for but instead relish that it’s here and that we can appreciate it for what it is and enjoy the sheer absurdity of it. Sometimes you don’t want to grow up and just sit back relax and drop a yule log while laughing your ass off and that’s exactly what this will do for you! So get it, read it and enjoy the fact that you’re a grown up who can still appreciate the crass humour of your youth!