JACK AVARICE IS THE COURIER BOOK ONE: KILL THE MESSENGER

"BIG BLIND" | "DEAL" | "RAISE" | "BLUFF" | "CALL"
Story/Art/Color/Lettering/Design: Chris Madden
Editor: Tom Waltz

As I noted in my review of DANGER GIRL: REVOLVER, I'm a big fan of Chris Madden's delightful artwork for that series. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I subsequently decided to take a look at Madden's creator-owned mini-series, JACK AVARICE IS THE COURIER, available in trade paperback from IDW. There's something to be said for a comic book professional who is capable of doing it all, as evidenced by the credits above. I've seen those who do most of it before, but coloring and/or lettering are usually left out of the full package. So regardless of the quality of the story, Madden should receive great kudos simply for being a quintuple-threat creator.

But the story is enjoyable too, if a bit derivative. We follow a young man named Jack Avarice as he becomes a "Courier" -- a member of a top-secret group of U.N. sanctioned super-spies. Every nation has one such operative, a person who can operate around the globe with complete immunity. It's an interesting premise, though I'm not sure such a thing makes much sense when you think about it. But in the world Madden has created, it's easy enough to swallow.

DANGER GIRL: REVOLVER

Story: Andy Hartnell | Art: Chris Madden
Colors: Jeremy Cox | Letters: Neil Uyetake | Edits: Scott Dunbier
Danger Girl Created By J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell

DANGER GIRL took some time off following 2007's BODY SHOTS, eventually returning to the printed page in 2011's DANGER GIRL AND THE ARMY OF DARKNESS, published by Dynamite Entertainment. But as noted previously, that story will not be covered here. Instead we jump ahead one more year to 2012, and the first DANGER GIRL story published by their new home, IDW -- DANGER GIRL: REVOLVER.

I'm not certain why this series is called REVOLVER. No one in the story uses a revolver. To my recollection, the word "revolver" is not uttered so much as a single time. So, as with BODY SHOTS, we have another series whose name seems a complete nonsequiter. But on the plus side, that's pretty much the only thing wrong with the series. REVOLVER is fun and fast-paced, evoking memories of the original DANGER GIRL series in the best possible ways. The Indiana Jones influence is more evident than in years, and the story is also perhaps the most plot-packed series since those original seven issues, as well.