Sometimes you have to wonder what is going on with the general outline of a series. Take for instance Secret Wars which, because it ended up adding two additional issues, must not have been completely fleshed out when it was started. I had similar thoughts after reading this week’s Danger Girl: Renegade because damn, does this issue add a lot of new elements and we’re at the eleventh hour here in the third of a four issue series. Is it good?
Danger Girl: Renegade #3 (IDW Publishing)
Abbey Chase has been found out by the CIA. She and her fellow thieves recently stole an expensive necklace from a bad man, but they’re in trouble for countless other robberies. This series takes place post-Abbey being in the Danger Girls and it focuses on Abbey finding her father.
Why does this comic book matter?
If you’re in your late 20’s to mid 30’s you know what Danger Girl is because of the, mostly, gratuitous and overly sexualized female protagonists drawn by J. Scott Campbell. Since then IDW has been publishing a few miniseries which have been hit or miss, but this series has been rather solid. It has felt a bit slow, but has a lot of promise.
Here we go!
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
This issue opens with Abbey Chase snooping around an old tomb which you know is filled with booby traps. Andy Hartnell basically gives us his version of the classic Indiana Jones scene complete with skulls with switches inside them! It’s a fantastic opening to the book which never lets up on the gas pedal. The way Abbey uses her noggin to figure out this trap is a fun little experience too.
From there we get a nice introduction of the CIA’s crack team, a couple fun James Bond references and gadgets too. You also get some high stakes added to Chase’s life, an exciting chase sequence and a fun gadget reveal. Honestly, I’m a bit amazed at how much Hartnell fit into this issue. I was only about halfway through and could have sworn it’d be over, but it just kept going.
Artist Stephen Molnar kills it in this issue and a lot of the credit for making this read feel full of great moments should go to him. The layouts keep your heart rate up, never feeling boring or slow. A lot of credit needs to go to artists who can make perilous situations look real and dangerous. Molnar makes you believe what you’re reading is really happening and his art ramps up the intensity.
It can’t be perfect can it?
I’m at a loss as far as why the plot shifts so dramatically. Abbey and her long lost father are of course the tethers between these first three issues, but the CIA being added into the mix seems like a major swing late in the game. I suspect this might be setting up another miniseries, but it’s downright confusing why the series hasn’t focused on one villain.
Cool inside the skull shot.
Is It Good?
Pulse-pounding action and adventure makes this a must read for blockbuster fans. This issue gives me hope a Danger Girl movie would be a great idea! It’s issues like this that make you realize you should stick with a series all the way to the end.
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