Action Lab Danger Zone 2016
Written by Brockton McKinney
Illustrated by Sergio Rios
Coloured by Marcelo Costa
Lettered by Dave Dwonch
Part of me marvels at the fact that Brockton can do a three issue run and have it completely told, of course the other part wishes it were longer because of the insane amount of fun, idiocy and sheer unadulterated mess that I love so much. I have to admit though that by not giving in to modern day demand of writing in trade paperback arcs says something positive about how this was done.
Okay well I was wondering if Kayla or Billy were going to end up being like the star of all this, well at least saving the day. Though I’m surprised at how little we actually see them in action. Granted they do important stuff but all in all they don’t play as large a role as I had anticipated and I kind of like that. Brockton really has managed to keep me on my toes, deliver the unexpected and write one heck of an entertaining story.
I rather got a kick out of Fader and Jonas having fight the gingerbread army. I mean it’s part ridiculous, part funny as all get out and part just over the top cliche “B” horror movie which is all kinds of fun to witness. This really is for mature audiences and you have to appreciate an off-kilter kind of humour because I laughed out loud at many different points of this issue simply because of how things went down in the dialogue.
So because the violent nature of the story there’s plenty of creative ways to mess someone up. First I wish we had a chance to further explore that green drug which helped bring our Gingerdead Man back because that drug is trippy. Not only that i’d love to see how was necessary for a person to ingest before being controlled like a puppet. Regardless this sadistic little creature who revels in violence can sure dish it out.
I’m more than a little impressed because Sergio and Marcelo manage to somehow keep the artwork a little Saturday Cartoon style but also incorporate the after effects of damage to a person in ways that remains pretty impactful. Proving that horror doesn’t always have to be in your face gore to leave a positive impression. Plus Sergio has a really good eye for how a story should unfold across the pages and panels. It couldn’t have been easy either having to draw all these little gingerbread men all over the place so much respect for the work he does here.
Short, sweet and full of things that take your teeth out this story is one that for me says the water's just fine come back later for more. Great characterization, great ending and some moments that really do surprise this is what I like to think of as a successful trial run to see how this Full Moon property does.