DANGER GIRL: MAYDAY

Over the summer I posted a series of reviews on all DANGER GIRL mini-series to date. But as those reviews were underway, the latest DG series was being released monthly. The trade paperback just came out a couple weeks back, so I figure I should put a bow on 2014's "Summer of Danger Girl" with one more, slightly delayed post:

Written by Andy Hartnell | Pencils by John Royle
Inks by Jose Marzan, Jr. & Eeshwar | Letters by Neil Uyetake
Colors by Romulo Fajardo & Ronda Pattinson | Edits by Scott Dunbier
Danger Girl Created By J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell

MAYDAY is another stylistically different Danger Girl series, and it's nice to see Andy Hartnell continue to try new approaches rather than stick to the same old formula. He's written these characters through nine limited series plus an assortment of one-shots over the past fifteen years, comprising more than forty issues now, so some variety at this point is appreciated. In this case, the entire series focuses on Natalia Kassle, with the Danger Girls only appearing in the final issue as minor background characters.

The story begins "years ago" as Hammer Island explodes, circa the conclusion of the original DANGER GIRL series. Not far from the island, a group of mercenaries led by one April Mayday are attempting to hijack a Hammer supply ship when a bunch of debris falls from the sky. Among the projectiles is Natalia, near death following her final confrontation with Abbey. Mayday resuscitates Natalia and takes her to a tropical island to recover.

We then skip to the present day, where Natalia's physical rehabilitation is complete -- but she has no memory of her past. Mayday, having spent the past few years researching Natalia, fills in what blanks she can and recruits Natalia into her mercenary troupe. She presents the team as a benevolent force working to recover experimental nerve gas before it can be used on Natalia's homeland, Russia (in actuality they're after the gas, presumably, to sell it for a profit). Natalia assists the mercs in tracking the gas down, first by hunting an ex-KGB agent in Moscow and then traveling to Africa, where the gas is being shipped. But Anastasia Kilbourne, villainess of THE CHASE, is after the gas too -- and so are Abbey and the Danger Girls (assisted by Dallas, Sonya's bounty from TRINITY).

DANGER GIRL: TRINITY

Written by Andy Hartnell | Art by John Royle, Harvey Tolibao and Stephen Molnar
Additional Inks by Philip Moy | Colored by Romulo Fajardo
Lettered by Neil Uyetake | Edited by Scott Dunbier
Danger Girl Created By J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell

TRINITY is a bit of an experiment for the DANGER GIRL series, though I would argue that it's not experimental enough. The advertised premise is that we get to see each of the core cast members -- Abbey, Sydney, and Sonya -- in a solo adventure, but this claim is only half true. The three girls are engaged in their own storylines when we first meet up with them, but the stories almost immediately intersect as part of one larger plot.

We first cover Abbey, on "vacation" in search of a priceless relic and at the mercy of her rival, Spencer Cross, making a return appearance following his debut in REVOLVER. Abbey manages an escape from Cross, but is captured by servants of a sultan named A'zeel Amahz, who wants Abbey to locate an ancient crown for him.

Following Abbey's kidnapping, Deuce contacts Sydney in London and sets her off on a search for her wayward teammate. But when Sydney is attacked immediately, she realizes someone is onto the rescue attempt and asks Deuce to warn Sonya.

Thus we join up with Sydney's sister in the Congo, also on her "day off", bounty hunting. She winds up working together with her quarry, a man named Dallas, to escape another group of the same mercenaries that pursued Sydney.

DANGER GIRL/G.I. JOE (REVISED)

I originally stated that, since I covered this series once already last year, I wouldn't do so again. But since it's a quick, light read, I decided to give it another go. My reaction this time was much the same as before -- it's an entertaining story, but the interaction between the Joes and Danger Girls feels a little too "fan-fiction"-ish. And my opinion that Hartnell and Royle should work on a straight adaptation of the G.I. JOE cartoon series, with no DANGER GIRL crossover element involved, remains the same.

Now, a reprint my original review, mildly revised and slightly spruced up to better fit in with my previous DANGER GIRL posts:

Written by Andy Hartnell | Penciled by John Royle | Inked by Philip Moy
Layout Assist by Jeff Moy | Colored by Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Lettered by Neil Uyetake | Edited by John Barber & Scott Dunbier
Danger Girl created by J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell

DANGER GIRL/G.I. JOE is very strongly based on the G.I. JOE cartoon series of the eighties, right down to taking place over five "episodes" as did those original Joe mini-series. The plot initially follows the G.I. Joe team, who have found some vintage World War II era German experimental missiles, which are promptly stolen by Cobra. Scarlett and Flint are captured as well, by Abbey, working undercover within the Cobra organization. Meanwhile, the president (here a woman rather than the man seen in BACK IN BLACK) orders the Joes off of operational duty due to their loss of the missiles. But Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, and Jinx disobey the letter of the order by recruiting the aid of the rest of the Danger Girl team, who Cover Girl has heard of thanks to a shared plane flight with Johnny Barracuda sometime back. The Danger Girls, Deuce, and Johnny arrive and unmask "Madame President" as Zarana, attempting to keep the Joes' heads in the sand with her falsified orders.

DANGER GIRL/G.I. JOE

Since I just finished the first half of TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE, I figured I'd keep going with another Hasbro property, G.I. Joe -- here teamed with J. Scott Campbell's Danger Girl characters. This is a review of the DANGER GIRL/G.I. JOE collected edition, released in 2013 and collecting the 2012 limited series of the same name. This review assumes some familiarity with both Danger Girl and G.I. Joe.

"DANGER GIRL/G.I. JOE"

Written by Andy Hartnell | Penciled by John Royle | Inked by Philip Moy

Layout Assist by Jeff Moy | Colored by Romulo Fajardo, Jr.

Lettered by Neil Uyetake | Edited by John Barber & Scott Dunbier

Danger Girl created by J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell

Art by J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl has been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me since it first appeared, back when I was in college. It was the only series from the Cliffhanger imprint that I picked up, and I guess I made the right choice because I seem to recall it was the only Cliffhanger series to reach its conclusion (even if it did take something like two years to get those seven issues). The series is not high art, though it has never pretended to be. It's simply the comic book equivalent of a big, dumb summer popcorn blockbuster, which is something you just want to read once in a while.

On the other hand, I've been a G.I. Joe fan since I was a kid, and I've followed their comic book adventures through the decades from Marvel to Devil's Due (for a while), and now to IDW (eventually dropping their relaunch in favor of Larry Hama's continuation series). But while the comics are my preferred G.I. Joe continuity, the 80s cartoon series features the characterizations I like best -- and this story seems to feature just those Joes. It's a little more "grown-up" than the cartoon (there is some blood and characters die as in the original comics), but it's clearly made with a cartoon sensibility, fitting perfectly with the Danger Girl universe.