Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Danger! Danger! High Voltage!, 27 Jul 2003
Three words sum up this book: fun, fun, fun. And yes, I'm well aware that's one word said three times. Imagine Lara Croft, Charlie's Angels, Buffy, Xena, and some of those intimidating yet oddly alluring female wrestlers, and combine them to create Abbey, Sydney, Natasha and Valerie. Add a clone of the young Bruce Campbell (the man who, incidentally, provides a very chucklesome introduction) in the shape of Johnny Barracuda. Throw in the set pieces of Indiana Jones and Bond (and a big boss that IS Sean Connery, for that matter), and fill their mouths with the knowing, pop culture wit of Joss Whedon and Kevin Williamson. Then pit them against an army of Neo-Nazi supervillians. And there you have it. Cheap, low brow and totally unashamed. If you're in search of intelligence, depth, and exploration of the dark areas of the psyche, this is not the comic you're looking for. If you want the comic equivilant of a popcorn blockbuster B-movie - this is absolutely the right place to come. Some hardcore comic fans may regard this lightwieght. That's their loss. I speak as someone who has this on his shelf alongside Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Garth Ennis; and on my DVD shelf, Charlie's Angels alongside Fight Club and Memento. Certainly, comics can be smart, deep, disturbing and thought provoking, and that's a good thing. But they can also be funny, light, escapist. If that sounds good to you, check out Danger Girl.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Campbell and Hartnell's Danger Girl series 1 in one book, 6 Feb 2001
By A Customer
From the preview appearance in Image comics' Gen13, Deuce and his girls have been hot property on the comic front. This is due to the amazing art work and riveting story lines courtesy of J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell. The first series, showcased in this prestige format hard cover book, comprises of seven seperate comics in all. Now, bearing in mind that the comics have been around since 1997 you may be thinking 'Whay aren't there more?' But in the comic world they are such hot property because the number of seperate comics amount to somewhere in the region of 41!(Due to all the varient covers, specials and sketch books). Luckily for all those people who want the benefit of Campbell and Hartnells enigmatic creation without the hastle of trying to find the seperate books, they bring you this collection. The comics are based around a team of girls who are on the quest to find three items of missing ancient treasure. Abbey Chase, the star of the comics, joins forces with the rest of the Danger Girls, Sydney Savage, Natalia Kassle and Silicon Valerie in their adventures against their arch rivals, Hammer, picking up help along the way from characters such as Johnny Baracuda and Agent Zero. The books are presented with stunning artwork that will leave you both drooling over the girls and in awe of the talent. The story line never lets up and you will get a feeling of the pace when you read the books one after the other as apose to waiting up to six months for the next issue like those who bought the seperate comics! This collection will appeal to both male and female readers for a number of reasons and the primary one is that it is a very, very good comic, and after reading the first few pages you'll be oon the edge of your seat shouting 'WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!??' For a first time comic buyer who's looking for that little bit extra in their reading material this is the book for you as not only does it give you the amazing story, stunning artwork it also give you those extras that even the people who bought the seperate comics will not have seen, but I can't tell you about them, if you wanna find out you'll have to order your copy, and believe me, it'll be well worth the wait!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simple. Brutal, Escapism with a slice of American Cheese, 7 Mar 2007
Hartnell and Campbell have borrowed from pop culture quite liberally here, but the good thing is they couldn't be more open in sharing this. If you like Indiana Jones, James Bond, Buffy and Russ Meyer, you'll be able to enjoy this. It's a refreshing change from the introspective, gloomy graphic novels that western comic fans rave about. This is about fun, humour, girls, mad villains, action and girls. Did i mention the Girls? Although the heroines do come in for a ribbing over their clothing to curves ratio, it's never more than playful teasing and sex never gets confused with violence. Most of the men in this story are either panting schoolboys out of their depth, or senior figures of authority too focused and businesslike for such foolishness. Only Johnny Baracuda, by dint of looking like Apollo in a Calvin Klein ad, gets the girl/s, and even then, it's a quick kiss.
The story introduces Abbey Chase, a nubile blonde American girl, in the middle of a mission that seems to be going wrong, and through her we get to know the faces of operation Danger Girl; Deuce, ex-superspy who looks like Sean Connery in 'The Hunt for Red October', Sydney Savage, a curvaceous and vivacious Aussie brunette in a black catsuit and bullwhip ensemble. Natalia Kassle, a statuesque Russian who i'd say was like Greta Garbo/ Xena Onatopp/ Jessica Rabbit in equal parts, but with more knives. Last but never least, Silicon Valerie, Tomboyish computer whiz from Oxford (she had to be), who seems to get pushed around like a little sister, and has a crush on Johnny.
The girls are all great looking and the detailed yet easy line work suits the material. Nothing lorks overwrought or too stylised, yet the look is unique and every character, down to the masked goons, are crafted with care. I have my favourites though, and Abbey and Sydney are loaded with character, curves and cartridges. The chief heavy, Major Maxim, looms over everyone in his fetishistic black Nazi uniform and mask, and is rarely troubled, even by multiple adversaries. Agent Zero's fight with Assassin X maybe a little derivative and reminscent of GI Joe, but at least the art is good.
This is a comic which wears it's heart on it's sleeve and shows deep respect for its characters. It's all about action, fun , good-looking heroes and larger-than-life villains and in the preface, J. Campbell tells us he wanted to make a 'movie comic' in the style of Indiana Jones and James Bond, rather than another 'spandex soap opera'. I'd say that judging by the lightness of tone, the lack of moralising and gorgeous visuals, he's succeeded wonderfully.
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