Action Lab Danger Zone 2017
Written, Lettered & Designed by Brendan Cahill
Illustrated by Jason Federhenn
Coloured by Josh Burchaam
Rich occultist Edward Harcourt lies on his deathbed. After a lifetime of searching for true magic, Edward thinks he’s found some answers, and he wants to pass them along to his grandniece, a gloomy teenager named Violet. But that may be a problem for Edward’s sister Edwina, who has her own plans for his legacy.
Folks there’s a reason you see me review a lot of Action Lab books and that’s because they really are so damn good. This one to me feels it can a motion picture adaptation and honestly I kind of wish it were. Brendan has the structure, flow and way that this needs to unfold down to a science. Everything we see feels genuine, from the characters their characterisation and even the more shall we say outside the box thinking.
This is a three issue series, another thing about Action Lab that I like as they don’t need to draw things out. The story gets told in the amount of time it needs and that’s a good thing in my book. Though of course if, and it will be, the story is really good then hopefully a sequel will end up being in the works. The pacing and revelations are such that yeah it does feel kind of fast and furious but then again it should with the amount of time this being told in. I like it though because again it feels real, genuine and like any kind of gathering under these circumstances would.
There are two openings here and by that I mean we see Edward awake from a coma, unexpectedly uttering something totally mysterious and interesting. Then we meet Violet who is travelling with her family on their way to see Great Uncle Edward. I love the dynamic of the two openings here, they are like night and day, aged and dignified on the surface and then modern with tons with attitude. It would seem like the two shouldn’t coexist but they most certainly do.
Jason and Josh do some great work bringing this to life here. I like how we see the old house for the first time and you get that whole sense of history, mystery and that twinge of horror when gazing upon it. The way that angles and perspective are shown and how the pages are laid out showcase a really good eye for storytelling. Like most books nowadays I want to see more backgrounds utilised especially here because the way this house could be used should leave the reader amazed and have it take their breath away.
So the way the characters are introduced give off almost this whole murder mystery clue feeling. It’s as if that’s being set-up to feel that way on purpose. With Grandma being a mean old woman who will fight her brother tooth and nail on the massive occult collection they’ve garnered to the greedy siblings and their spouses who just wanna sell it all, yes money is the root of all evil right. So the kids are supposed to feel kind of secondary well except for Violet. She’s just sixteen and well that’s the age where the idea of freedom is within her grasp and yet still ever so elusive and far away. I’m serious when I tell you that the characterisation here is beyond what you’ll expect it to be.
So blend in man most think are dying and a slew of relatives who want different pieces of the pie for their own reasons and you’ve got yourself one heck of a combination. The way this can unravel has as many paths as there were ways to Rome in it’s heyday. Though there’s only one that really matters and it’s going to be a pleasure to see that one unfold around the others. The relationship between Violet and Boppa is special and it’s going to be one of those that changes their lives forever.
Not surprising that this is as modern as can be and yet still feels like an Agatha Christie novel at the same time. Prepare to be amazed by the quality of storytelling here.