Danger Girl: Back In Black

The girls are not only back in black, but they are also back for good.

A visit to my favorite bookstore, Kinokuniya in KLCC and I finally got what I was looking for; my all time favorite comic series, Danger Girl. This time the girls are "back in black". Like the previous Danger Girl series, the story of "Back in Black" is written by Andy Hartnell. On the other hand, the art work was illustrated by Nick Bradshaw and Jim Charalampidis instead of the legendary Scott Campbell. The copy I purchased was the entire collection of the "Back in Black" series. The "Back in Black" series isn't the latest installment of Danger Girl; it is the second latest in the series. Although I couldn't get my hands on the latest copy of Danger Girl, I wasn't really troubled at all as I am planning to collect the back issues as well. In Danger Girl: Back in Black, the girls are assigned to track down a stolen ancient artifact. Meanwhile, Agent Zero and Agent Barracuda are on the hunt for a mysterious object referred to as the "pod" which seems related to the artifact which the girls are assigned to track down. Danger Girl: Back in Black is not only back in a stylish manner but they are also back for good.

What makes this installment great? Well first of all, the plots are not only well arranged but they are also well presented. The plots that provide an alternate focus on the girl's ( Abbey and Sydney) and the guy's (Agent Zero and Agent Barracuda) mission reveal how they are related in the story. The dialogs like usual, are never dull and boring. They are very casual and natural which authenticate the settings of the story.Andy Hartnell did a great job adding a great amount of humor to make this R-rated comic less stressful and more enjoyable. As for the action, the readers will be kept at the edge of their seats with all the brawling, shootings and car chasing. The infiltration action scenes by Agent Zero which was simply stylish apart from gory also fueled the action in the story. Lastly, "Back in Black" shocks the readers with its unexpected ending which will prompt the readers to impatiently find on what will be next in the story. "Back in Black" is simply amazing.

However unlike the earlier Danger Girl series, "Back In Black" had several flaws. First of all, an immediate disappointment struck me as I started the first page; the art of "Back in Black" wasn't what I expected. What thought to be an art similar to Scott Campbell's one turned out to be the one similar to Totally Spies'; Abbey Chase and Sydney Savage's beauty have been smeared in dirt. They do not look as sexy and beautiful like before, in fact they looked so deformed. I guess this has been the biggest disappointment for the graphic novel. The drawings are not as detailed as Scott Campbell's one. The evil goons' costumes looked like something out of Ultraman's anti monster force and the gun detail look similar to the one you can find in Toys R' Us. The story is also shorter than expected unlike, the Danger Girl Ultimate Collection. To be more specific, "Back in Black" was only a quarter of the Ultimate Collection. Although there are several flaws in "Back in Black", the quality of this story is still worth the "a thumb up" rating.

Danger Girl: Back in Black is not only back in a stylish manner but they are also back for good. Like me, the other fans of Danger Girl are now impatient for the sequel to appear on their local bookstore's shelves. In the meantime, I'll be collecting the back issues of the series and at the same time, I'll be praying that Scott Campbell will be the artist for the rest of the series.

The cover for issue number 3. Nice!

The front cover of the "Back in Black" collection by the legendary Scott Campbell. Abbey Chase and Sydney Savage in this picture are so damn hot. It's such a shame Mr. Campbell was replaced in this story and because of that, poor Abbey and Sydney won't be looking pretty for now. Tsk...tsk...