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reviewed by Simon Breeze
The previous issue of Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness finished with Sydney Savage of the Danger Girls - my favorite Danger Girl if you're curious - leaving the team on a solo mission to 'help' Ash get out of jail.
We pick up this issue as Sydney stands on a roof-top opposite the building where Ash is being held by the authorities and is about to swing into action by James Bond/Batman style zip-lining between buildings and stealthily laser-cutting her way through a window before smoke bombing and kung-fuing her way through the guards.
At this point we are treated to a bit of back story for the character of Sydney, starting from when she was a young girl and she broke into an aquarium to swim with the octopus, through to her teenage years of sneaking into rock concerts, and then to finally going to military school and being recruited by Deuce into the Danger Girl team. We even get to find out why she wears a vintage black leather cat suit. You didn't even get that bit of information in the original Danger Girl comics!
We now get to meet Doctor Lauren Alia, I would just like to add that if my Doctor looked like Dr. Alia I would be permanently ill. Lauren is tasked with analyzing a new detainee called John Doe (Ash) who suffers form severe paranoid hallucinations. It is not long before Sydney has knocked the good doctor out, stripped her out of her uniform and disguised herself as her.
Oddly, Ash has similar plans for one of the prison guards who he tricks into his cell, knocks him unconscious, steals his uniform and makes his way out of the prison. That is until he encounters his doctor.
After a bit of a scuffle, Dr. Alia (Sydney) and the prison guard (Ash) realise that they are both after the same thing, the Necronomicon!
The story now shifts to North Africa to catch up with the guys who are currently in possession of the deadly book as they plan how to get the book to the buyer. All is not well in the camp though as one of the henchmen is acting a little strange ... and when he is confronted by one of the other henchmen about his behavior he is quickly uncovered as a spy: none other than Agent Zero!
If you have never read Danger Girl this last page reveal will mean very little to you. If like me you are a fan of Danger Girl you will have wee'd in your underpants more than a little when you turned to that last page! [Oh dear - Zaius] To then be teased even further with the solicitation for the next issue stating '... But when Agent Zero crosses paths with an old adversary from the former Hammer Empire, will his thirst for revenge put Abby in the middle of the crossfire ...?'
Now, me, I squealed like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert: The Hammer Empire! Revenge! Old adversary! - Queue squeal!
What an amazing issue this is. No, scrub that. What a fantastic mini series this is turning out to be!
I haven't had this much fun and excitement reading a Danger Girl comic in years. So-much-so I'm even planning to go back and re-read my collection of the earlier Danger Girl stories once this mini series has finished its run. Andy Hartnell's so on the ball with his writing in this series he is falling nothing short of genius. Throw in the brilliant artwork of Chris Bolson and Adriano Lucas and I think my head may just very well explode in a joygasm!
I give this issue a five out of five boomsticks!
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #3
Written by Andy Hartnell, art by Chris Bolson, colours by Adriano Lucas, letters by Marshall Dillon, covers by Paul Renaud (50%) and Nick Bradshaw (50%)
Published by Dynamite & IDW
Many thanks to Simon for his thoughts - after his earlier reviews I've started reading some of the original Danger Girl stories and I must say I'm loving them: they have a real sense of tongue-in-check adventure that I'm finding very enjoyable.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #3
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #2
reviewed by Simon Breeze
Now here we are one month later and issue #2 just delivered and read, has my opinion changed?
This issue as I assumed (and could it have been any other way?) saw the introduction of Ash from the popular Evil Dead films and the Army of Darkness comic title. I have always been a huge fan of Ash, ever since I watched a copy of Evil Dead as a nipper - me and my friend Marc 'borrowed' the VHS from his older brother's horror film collection one school summer holiday.
This meant that not only was my tiny little mind of the time permanently warped, yet more relevantly, I was really looking forward to the appearance of his character in this issue.
Avoiding spoilers, here is a real quick summary of the story for issue #2 that does it no justice at all:
We are introduced to Ash in his ho-hum everyday life when something weird starts to happen to him and the people around him, and he figures out it is related to the Book of the Dead. Now flash back to Ash's history with the Book of the Dead and then a slight nudge in his present life to get him on track to meet up with the Danger Girls. This is followed by further progression of the last issues story to be concluded by all of the Danger Girls being introduced and moving their story towards them meeting Ash ... to be continued!
This comic is one of two halves. The introduction of Ash in the first half, and the progression of the story that started in issue one in the second. So-much-so that even the page count is practically split right down the middle! Yep, you read the Ash part, there is an advert, then you jump right in to the Danger Girl part. Does this matter? Not really! I just found it interesting! What matters is that it worked.
I think one of the main things that stood out for me in this issue was that it doesn't matter what degree of knowledge or history you have with either of these franchises (Army of Darkness or Danger Girl). You could pick up this comic and have a really good read and an enjoyable adventure. By the end of this second issue, you know about all the main characters, where they come from and for the most part where they are going and why they are on this trip together.
Issue #2, as with issue #1, has brilliant writing and art. However, unlike issue #1 there is the payoff for the fans of both Danger Girl and Ash alike. Now I might just be reading into things, or much like Ash himself in this issue and hallucinating, but the issue appears to be packed with lots of subtile hat tips to the Evil Dead films and Danger Girl comics in both the dialogue, narration and the artwork that the fans of either or both with a keen eye will love! If you have never read a Danger Girl comic or don't know anything about Ash (though I would question why to both!), you have nothing to worry about. The 'hat tips' are done in such a way that you wont notice and therefore will not spoil your reading enjoyment at all.
Another thing that this second issue has done, and it has done it well, is to bring the 'cheesy' humour of both Danger Girl and Evil Dead to the story, something that I felt was very much lacking in the first issue. The humour and cheesyness is something I believe that in the past has underpinned the characters stories in previous titles and incarnations. Without the cheese and humour Danger Girls and Ash don't work. One of the key things that drew me to this title in the first place was the thought of Ash and his macho runaway mouth working with three smoking-hot and strong minded girls! To me it is the perfect recipe for many clever comedy moments, and it would have been a shame to have missed out on them.
All this said, the best bit for me came towards the end (you have to picture me bouncing around like Tigger as I type this) as Sydney, my favourite Danger Girl, put in a proper appearance in this issue. Not only that! She is introduced in such a way that it sets up her character brilliantly to have her play a very interesting role in the next part of the story. (I had a fear, very much supported by the first issue, that the focus would be on, and remain on, Abby Chase to the exclusion of the other Danger Girls). I was (and still am!) almost at the point of bursting with anticipation for the next issue that was reached the very second I finished the last page of issue #2! If I could 'speed up time or alter the harvest' to get issue #3 here in my hands now, I would do it!
If you had any doubts about this comic after reading issue #1, I would now like to take this opportunity to dance about saying, 'I told YOU so!' This comic has met the potential in this second issue that I assumed (be it with crossed fingers) it could, and I am itching to see how it plays out in issue #3 and beyond.
A very well deserved five out of five chainsaws!
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #2
Written by Andy Hartnell, art by Chris Bolson, colours by Adriano Lucas, letters by Marshall Dillon
Covers by J. Scott Campbell, Paul Renaud and Nick Bradshaw
Published by Dynamite Entertainment & IDW
Many thanks to Simon for another enjoyable review - remember you can read a new review from Simon here at Escape from Tomorrow each week and pop over to his own blog to enjoy more of his writing and artwork.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #1
reviewed by guest contributor Simon Breeze
As I was flicking through it, vaguely recalling something I had read about it (keep in mind the internet was still in training pants and a 56Kbps dial up connection was top speed, so information on comics came from an old invention in the form of a magazine called Comics International), my friend Jim, who I was at the expo with, looked up from his Iron Man comic and said, 'You'll like that one Si. It is the kinda rubbish you'd normally read!'
And on that recommendation, how could I go wrong? So I bought it, stuck it in my bag along with my 2000AD, Batman and Spider-Man comics and thought nothing more of it.
I got home that night and, like you do (or is it just me?), sat down on the floor of the living room of my house and spread out all my comics, trades and graphic novels and took account of my purchases. I then spent the next hour leafing through them all and trying to figure out what to read first. That was until I picked up the Danger Girl comic: Bingo!
In his own special way Jim was right, Danger Girl was the, 'kinda rubbish' I normally read. Danger Girl was the kind of comic I had always dreamed of owning, and my hardened superhero comic reading friend had always despised! Here was a comic that was a mix of Indiana Jones, James Bond, Tomb Raider, G.I. Joe and all the things I loved as a kid. Not only that it was full of cheeky humour, action and hot girls. Hot action girls with guns and big explosions drawn by J. Scott Campbell, so really-really hot girls beautifully drawn then!
This was a strange point in my life, a turning point too. This was the day that would not only see the start of my torrid love affair with Abbey Chase and the Danger Girls, but also, and oddly, the birth of my desire to create comics too!
Danger Girl for me is a brilliant concept of all of the above. In summary; hot action girls saving the world like only James Bond and Indiana Jones have done so in the past. However, doing it their way, how a girl would do it. Therein is one of the things I like about Danger Girl, yeah-yeah it plays on the fact it is a team of very attractive girls with some cheeky fun from time to time, but they are all 'strong' girls. Think Princess Leia from Star Wars, very pretty, very sexy and you wouldn't want to mess with her either!
As the years went by and the stories racked up I must admit the glory days of Danger Girl were short lived, and that despite a few good ones since, it has never reached the heights of that first run for me. But like that girlfriend that you never get over, you always hope that the next one you meet will measure up and out shine the old, or even just be almost as good! You keep trying though! Through thick and thin, through knock backs and bad dates you cling to the hope that there is a light at the end of that long old tunnel.
Here we are. Several years on from the start of that love affair and through the beauty of a 20Mbps broadband connection and from the comfort of an armchair (don't times change quickly) I find out from a comic blog that there is to be a new Danger Girl adventure, this time the girls are taking on the Army of Darkness!
Army of Darkness... Hmmm...?
I do really like the Evil Dead films, especially the Army of Darkness. However, I have never read any of the tie-in comics. Could this mash-up of titles work? On one hand you have Danger Girl, hot girls being James Bond and Indiana Jones and on the other a time travelling shop assistant with a robot hand, chainsaw and Boomstick (shotgun) fighting the legions of the undead?
The first issue of Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness begins with Abbey Chase, the main character from the Danger Girl title, narrating and giving the reader a little insight to the world of Danger Girl. To be expected, not everyone has read Danger Girl, and so they will need a little introduction.
Introduction over, we join Abbey on an assignment to help out on a rescue mission (I'm skimping on details if you are wondering to try and keep this review as spoiler free as possible) which very quickly goes south and introduces us to the existence of a book called the, 'Necronomicon Ex-Mortis' – the, 'Book of the Dead'. The very same evil, bound in human flesh and written in human blood book of all things nasty and foul from the Evil Dead films. Issue number one of Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness over and in the bag.
That was quick!
Okay, it is not that quick of a read, but that's it, that's the plot of the 22 page first issue, which ends very nicely setting up and leading us comfortably into the story for the next issue.
For me something was missing from this story right from the start. In my mind there is one real common ground that ties the worlds of Danger Girl and the Evil Dead together, and that I can sum up in one word: 'fun'. Sadly, it was missing from this issue. The story is full of action, cool gun fights, explosions and enough cheesy action movie moments to even make John Woo blush. It just wasn't fun enough for me though.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the story, or any of the action, in fact some of it is awesome! For me (and I am willing to except that I may be alone in this opinion) Danger Girl worked because it was action and adventure with a real good dose of fun. At some point in the Danger Girl series the fun started to become thin on the ground and the title started to take itself a little too seriously, and as I said earlier, there have been a few Danger Girl comics that recaptured this fun element (Back in Black was one of the few story arcs that managed to do this) for the most part though it has been lacking. Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness is a good example (in my opinion) of this.
Why the big deal? Well you might ask. The big deal is this. As any fan of Ash (the hero from the Evil Dead films) will tell you he is the king of the one liners, and the Army of Darkness film is one of the most fun horror films there is. Add in the cheeky fun action-adventure from Danger Girl and you have possibly in your hands the making of something very special. Sadly, I'm just not seeing it in this first issue. It is all just taking itself a little to seriously.
For another thing. Where are the other Danger Girls? The focus of this issue is purely on Abbey Chase (although some members of the team do pop-up in the background of the odd one or two panels they do very little to nothing) Danger Girl is at its best when the team are all there to play-off off one another.
Where is Ash too? I understand that this is a first issue and I am 100% sure that Ash will show up in issue 2. However, don't give me 22 pages of action, story and only a fraction (a tiny one at that) of the cast!
I think there in lies the 'nub' of my slight negativity towards this first issue. You can't help but get the feeling, right from the start, that it could have been better. Do I feel let down? Yes, somewhat. But as a Danger Girl fan I'm used to riding that roller coaster. Do I have hope - and belief - that this could be the great comic I dreamed it could be? Yes! Without out a doubt!
Okay, bad bits out of the way, now on to the good bits.
Written by Andy Hartnell – Check!
Cover by J. Scott Campbell – Check!
(Awesome) Page art by Chris Bolson – Check!
Action, lots of – Check!
Lots of things going BANG! - Check!
Cheesecake moments – Check!
Weird supernatural stuff – Check!
Some guys hand gets possessed and trying to kill him! - Check!
So there is a short list of some of the brilliant stuff that this comic has used so far to good advantage. I still feel that Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness has the ability to be something very special. Scrub that, I know it can be something very special. Right now it is good comic, it could be a great comic though. I guess it is too early to tell if that will happen. Yet, it has done enough in my eyes to get me reading the next one, and if it stays as good as this first issue, I will not only be sticking with the series until its conclusion I will also be investing in the collected edition when it is published too.
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness is a good comic. A good read with some fantastic art and moments. It's not a great comic, not yet anyway. I'm going to give Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness a 3.5 chainsaws out of 5 and sit in twitching anticipation of issue 2 arriving on my doorstep. I won't be spoiling anything by saying that Ash is going to be in the next issue for sure and maybe, just maybe, the addition of one of the coolest guys in horror history will inject that missing element for me. Abbey Chase and Ash in the same comic together! This is where things could go from good to great in the space of one page or even a single panel! Mixing these two characters and worlds together was a stroke of genius, and with what I've seen of Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness so far, I am willing to take that gamble that it will be.
Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #1
Written by Andy Hartnell, art by Chris Bolson, colours by Adriano Lucas, letters by Marshall Dillon
Covers by J. Scott Campbell (main), Paul Renaud (one in ten) and Nick Bradshaw (one in fifteen)
Published by Dynamite Entertainment & IDW
Massive thanks to Simon for another enjoyable review. Don't forget you can check out Simon's writing and art over at his blog and his excellent weekly webcomic - JesseKane.
