Action Lab Entertainment 2016
Written by Brockton McKinney
Illustrated by Andrew Herman
Last issue introduced Zoe, her sister Danni and their robotic sidekicks to the world and set the stage for what the daredevil is being tasked to do. Stop an asteroid from hitting the Earth. Her family nemesis Thunderbuckler is also on board and the two will have to work together in this task. Only what they don’t know is that an alien species is out there as well and they are headed towards Earth. So now that the two have been launched with a shuttle crew of astronauts Brockton wastes no time in amping up the action. Right off the bat we see the shuttle under attack and the real adventure begins.
One of the first things I noticed here was Andrew’s interiors. The space suits the astronauts are wearing seeming a lot like those from the early Battlestar Galactica days, at least the helmets. His attention to detail and the way everything looks is extremely well done in bringing us a new streamlined science fiction feel. The use of backgrounds, the pages and panels with angles and perspective and how he brings the characters to life through their faces is extremely well utilized. This goes into the realm of all-ages in a great way and it’s wonderful to see.
Now that they are in space the focus shifts away from Danni and the robots and to Zoe and Race. With what happened to the shuttle, it crashed onto the main ship, the alien leader has asked for a survivor to be brought to him. There’s a lot of great dialogue and characterization that’s happening here. There are also a few surprises in store for Zoe that may go a long way in explaining the relationship her dad and Race had both on and off the circuit before his death. All this in the midst of having to deal with a race that isn’t human as they try to save the captain and figure out what the heck is going on.
I have to say Brockton really has upped his writing game here. I like the way the story progresses it’s fast paced and extremely interesting. That there isn’t time to just focus on one thing is the way real life happens and having a meltdown or freaking out isn’t an option when your career is centered around life and death situations in the first place. It’s also nice to see that while she’s a great female lead character she is still prone to everyday human faults, snap judgments and misinformation among them.
Back on Earth Danni and the bots have been able to get a video only stream of the shuttle. This leads to her having a plan of her own and hopefully we’ll see more of her, Vic and JJ. Why well these two bots are scene stealers with the way they talk and how they behave and who doesn’t want to see more of them? Honestly they crack me up so I hope that somehow Danni and the bots and figure out a way to help Zoe or Dare it say it join her.
This has all the elements of classic science fiction television shows all rolled up into one and it’s about time we get to see that again. I mean from Buck Rogers to Battlestar Galactica this has everything more seasoned readers will appreciate and newer readers will find what’s been missing when it comes to outer space action.
The boys have a great story going here and it’s one you should be reading.