Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Andy Hartnell
Artist: John Royle & Jose Marzan
Release Date: 23rd April 2014

Upon completion of this issue I find myself somewhat at a loss on how to review it. I remember the Danger Girl comics from years past and the fun campy action hero movie plot lines and antics, but sadly all that good stuff seemed to be missing here. The story opens up on a freighter where a team of three mercenaries are questioning the thugs that were delivering a shipment of guns. As with most thugs, they refuse to answer.  However, before we can go any further, we are informed that the freighter is fast approaching what looks like a volcano but is apparently an island that is at war. Quickly, the story moves to the team struggling to make it through the debris from the ongoing war only to discover a survivor trapped in a net that the thugs seem to fear more than anything.

Despite the book as a whole not being quite what I was expecting, the artwork to me was definitely visually appealing. It was done in a very similar style to the original artist J. Scott Campbell, yet had it’s own unique qualities as well. The landscapes are detailed and the characters – though not overly detailed – each have their own unique look and are distinguishable from each other. Story-wise however, I felt that this issue fell flat; it jumped around without much information given as to when and where events were taking place and where they took place in relation to each other. The first page states that the events took place years ago, then towards the end of the issue it simply says “Now.” It seemed to me like there should’ve been an issue prior to this informing us why the mercenaries were after this freighter and just what the purpose of stopping it was. The introduction of the strange survivor who you can tell is an integral part of the story just seemed a bit too clichéd to me. Overall, the story just lacked a strong plot. It came across as a typical action movie plot, but one which was was lacking information and distinction of its parts.

Rating: 2/5.

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The writer of this piece was: Shane Hoffman (aka “Hoff”)
You can also find Hoff on Twitter.