Action Lab Entertainment 2016
Written by Brockton McKinney
Illustrated by Andrew Herman
Alien overlord Z’Ntar is revealed, and Zoe Dare learns the shocking secret behind the Disasteroid’s true intent! On Earth the communication feed with the space crew is abruptly cut, and Danni Dare tries to convince wisecrackin’ robot J.J. to help Zoe—by taking a dangerous one-way trip into space!
Well this issue isn’t anything like was expecting it to be so kudos to Brockton for keeping me on my toes as I read this story. I will say that this has gone from that all-ages it started out to be for T for Teen title and i’m kind of thrilled by that. I mean we’re seeing more character development this issue in surprising ways as well the truth about why Z’Ntar is on vengeance kick against Earth.
Meanwhile on Earth Danni takes matters into her own hands not only showing her intuition and innovation but also her smarts. It’s nice to see that her love for her sister and the way she can think outside the box are what make her the woman she is. Plus with the way Brockton does the dialogue here you’ve just got no choice but to admire her spunk and attitude.
Andrew’s interiors here are as sharp as ever. While still maintaining that all-ages feel he infuses that with his own unique style and attention to detail to make this standout. While I wish he would utilize backgrounds more to help us flesh out the scenes more fully his use of angles and perspective are smartly done. The flow of the book is great and the emotions that the characters give off are easily readable.
I like that the more we see of Z’Ntar the more weird he becomes. I mean is he really trying to feel up Zoe in that panel or is it just a case of him being some weirdo who has no clue as to what he’s doing. What he says about that well it made me laugh honestly. I’m having so much fun reading this story and how the seriousness behind it and the absurdity of it all interplay is something Brockton should take pride in.
While Zoe was captured by Yono, Race managed to get the Captain back to the shuttle. Though before Race can mount a rescue of Zoe he’s got a few things of his own to deal with. Gotta say this whole segment took me surprise and I like that. Yono sure does get around i’ll say that much, stealthy and effective she’s a woman on a mission and she’s just hella dangerous. You kind of have to admire her even if she’s a “bad guy” in all this. Though what her connection to Z’Ntar truly is, she’s got to be more than his right hand “man”, hasn’t been revealed she does seem to relish what she does for him.
I’m totally appreciative of the work that’s being done here. It’s a great science fiction action adventure story that isn’t predictable. It’s that unpredictability which makes it one of the more interesting stories around.