Danger Girl Special #1 - Wildstorm Productions

DANGER GIRL SPECIAL #1, February 2000

Presumably published to keep interest high during the long delays which plagued the later releases of the original “Danger Girl” seven-issue mini-series, Andy Hartnell and J. Scott Campbell’s two storylines for this over-sized special edition probably provided its 64,969 readers a modicum of entertainment, at least with the book’s opening “li’l Danger Girl tale” entitled “Delusions Of Grandeur”. However, it’s difficult to imagine even this fourteen-page yarn completely satisfying an audience so abundantly keen for fresh material concerning Abbey Chase and Sydney Savage’s continuing adventures, that they bought enough of this ‘annual’ to make it the tenth best-selling title in November 1999.

For starters, the story’s basic plot revolves around Silicon Valerie daydreaming about being a Danger Girl whilst the rest of the secret agents adoringly follow in her footsteps; “Forget what that gizmo tells ya, kid. A true adventuress relies on cunning and instinct!” This role reversal actually provides a fair few laughs and some enthralling jungle exploration when the teenager is busy imagining herself fighting a giant horned white gorilla so as to save a local village. But by the time the bespectacled Oxford graduate is facing the criminal mastermind Doctor Fiddler and effortlessly rescuing Johnny Barracuda from the villain’s chicken-obsessed “egg-centricities”, the narrative’s endless one-liners are arguably starting to wear a little thin.

Fortunately, such a quibble cannot be levelled upon Arthur Adams’ outstanding artwork, which rivals even that of title co-creator Campbell’s meticulous pencilling. The Massachusetts-born illustrator’s attention to detail is simply staggering, with his rendition of the rampaging white demon beating its chest with its monstrous hands, and sending a myriad of leaves flying up into the air, making the monster look especially formidable… At least until Valerie’s comically splats “the Donkey Kong reject” in the face with a banana.

Sadly, this publication’s other story, “The Mod Bods” is debatably less amusing, despite its brave attempt to capture all the campy shenanigans of William Dozier’s Sixties American live action television series “Batman”. Featuring more peaches than perhaps even a vegetarian could stomach and Joe Chiodo’s decidedly curvaceous-looking painted panels, this twelve-page tongue-in-cheek homage is just plain silly, depicting the three hard-as-nails heroines as little more than dizzy-brained actresses in some “long thought-to-be-lost episode” of a television programme…

Story by: J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell, Painted by: Joe Chiodo, and Pencils by: Arthur Adams

Danger Girl #7 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #7, February 2001

Weighing in with a hefty forty-nine pages, not including its utterly awesome wrap-a-round cover illustration, J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s story for Issue Seven of “Danger Girl” was arguably well worth the wait when the publication finally hit the spinner racks in October 2000. Indeed, pausing only long enough for Johnny Barracuda and Sydney Savage to enjoy a significantly long smooch, this comic’s pulse-pounding panels are relentless in their depiction of mayhem and violence, as Abbey Chase leads her friends on a final face-off against the monstrous machinations of the Hammer organisation; “Ahem. Um, just here to save your lives, but if I’m interrupting…”

Happily however, interspersed amongst all the gun-play, high-kicks, cracking whips and mystical mumbo jumbo, are plenty of enthralling plot points too, most noticeably that of Agent Zero and his ‘ninja-twin’, Assassin X. The pair’s sense-shattering display of martial arts and swordsmanship is as riveting as their razor-sharp weapons are lethal, yet despite the deadly duo’s remorseless close combat, their barbed verbal exchanges persistently reveal more detail about the two disciples of the Dragon, and their widely different paths in life.

Perhaps this book’s biggest surprise though, is just how “the remnants of the Nazi Empire” and their Hammer Fuhrer get their decidedly well-deserved comeuppance. Armed with the Sword of Sovereignty, the Helmet of Second Sight, and the Shield of Immunity, it genuinely looks as if the goose-stepping villains and their geriatric leader will become masters of the world at long last. But this comic’s collaborative creators then quite wonderfully turn the tables on the bad guys by having them all, including little Timmy Nelson of Youth Group 214, get roasted alive by the demonic “leader of the Atlantian Army in the days before Atlantis was destroyed”, who secretly resides within the “evil frickin armour.”

Such a cataclysmic conclusion really shows off Campbell’s imagination, with the Michigan-born artist pencilling some truly gobsmackingly good scenes, such as Major Maxim gunning down a horde of undead ghouls with a vehicle’s heavy machinegun, and then having his arm sliced clean off, courtesy of the Atlantean deity’s green-glowing sword. Chase and Natalia Kassle’s battle is also extremely well drawn, with the combatants featuring in some superbly detailed splash pages, as well as a super-exciting helicopter attack against Aticleas, which sees the ethereal entity once again drowned beneath a wall of ocean waves.

Story: J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell, Script: Andy Hartnell, and Drawings: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl #6 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #6, December 1999

Teeming with enough dastardly, jack-booted fascists to rival even those numbers seen in Steven Spielberg’s 1981 American action-adventure movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s narrative for Issue Six of “Danger Girl” must surely have enthralled its 102,341 readers in October 1999 with its fascinating flashback to the creation of the despicable criminal organisation Hammer. True, the rise of the High Fuhrer’s dastardly army from the burnt “remnants of the Nazi Empire” is understandably both a little unsettling and word-heavy, but that doesn’t stop the extensive summary of a lone German officer’s decades long search for “the majestic continent of Atlantis” and its ancient artefacts from being any less engrossing.

Indeed, despite the now pitiable “evil… in a can” consisting of little more than a geriatric head atop an eagle-emblemed, torpedo-shaped breathing apparatus, the sheer sense-shattering ceremony surrounding the man’s attainment of his three “powerful heirlooms” is impressively pencilled by Campbell, especially when the tiny figure is seemingly surrounded by literally hundreds of his fanatically-loyal troops; “It might be tricky, Syd. I’ve counted at least a dozen of these goons. Give or take a few thousand.”

Luckily, bringing some much needed light to the dankly dark party is the news that Deuce managed to survive being “ambushed by a Hammer Hydronaut Team”, despite the former British spy losing the Danger Yacht, “my ponytail”, and the Atlantean shield. His near deadly-betrayal by former team-mate Natalia Kassle, along with an urgent need to rescue Sydney Savage and Johnny Barracuda from the clutches of Kharnov von Kripplor, seems to be just the incentive Abbey Chase needs in order to quell her fears about letting her friends down, and resultantly she puts on a seriously determined ‘game face’ for the relic hunter's nervy infiltration of Hammer Island from the sea.

Impressively for just a twenty-two page periodical, the creative collaborators also even manage to provide some additional mystery to the background of Agent Zero within his comic, by depicting the “ninja and... acquaintance of Deuce” facing off against the equally as enigmatic Assassin X. Both apparently taught by the same Sensei, as well as sworn to study their dead mentor’s teachings, it is clear that the two ‘old friends’ went down completely different paths after the Hammer operative killed their master and “disposed of such futile visions.”

Story: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, Script: Andy Hartnell, and Drawings: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl #5 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #5, July 1999

The third best-selling comic book in September 1998, at least according to “Diamond Comic Distributors”, Andy Hartnell and J. Scott Campbell’s rollercoaster of a ride for Issue Five of “Danger Girl” probably had its 117,668 readers crying out loud in anguish at some of the sense-shattering shenanigans the collaborative creative crammed into the twenty-two page periodical. For whether it be Deuce desperately battling against a sinisterly costumed Hammer frogman boarding party on board the Danger Yacht, Doctor Kharnov von Kripplor's bizarre biological experiments upon Sydney Savage and Johnny Barracuda, or the submerged Sea Turtle exploring an old Nazi submarine wreck for an ancient sword, every situation seems about to result in one of this book’s leading cast members coming to a grim end.

Mercifully, none of these dire consequences seem to have simply been penned just for a momentary effect, yet rather provide this publication’s plot with plenty of heart-stopping pathos as it despairingly plummets towards the top secret covert female force’s disastrous demise. Indeed, having been butted behind the ear by one of Major Maxim’s shock troops and left for dead upon his exploding sea vessel, the leader of the Danger Girl team’s untimely 'death' is poignantly portrayed as being just the first in a series of calamities to befall Abbey Chase’s ever decreasing world; “You all can finish this one without me. I can’t bear to lose any more of my friends on account of my inexperience.”

Quite possibly this comic’s most disconcerting sequence though has to be the terrifying treatment Agent Falcon experiences at the hands of Doctor von Kripplor. Hammer’s mad scientist is absolutely dripping in malevolence, and his promise to “very inappropriately” touch a chair-bound Savage “about ze chest and backside” after causing the recent captured Carter’s head to literally explode, is chillingly delivered.

However, perhaps this book’s most ‘stand-out’ moment has to be Agent Zero and Chase’s battle against a pair of Hammer Hydronauts some leagues beneath the North Atlantic Sea. Capturing all the claustrophobic action and excitement of the underwater scenes seen in “Eon Productions” 1981 James Bond spy film “For Your Eyes Only”, this grim fight for survival is both tremendously well drawn by Campbell, as well as marvellously inked and coloured by Alex Garner and Justin Ponsor. In fact, the battle becomes so tense, once some enraged giant eels decide to join the confrontation, that many bibliophiles probably found themselves holding their breath in anticipation of the cliff-hanger conclusion to come.

Story: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, Script: Andy Hartnell, and Drawings: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl #4 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #4, December 1998

Shifting an impressive 95,035 copies in July 1998, this ninth best-selling comic of the month must surely have exhausted its audience with its ferocious pace, seeing as Andy Hartnell’s script somehow manages to cram almost its entire pulse-pounding plot within the claustrophobic confines of Eddy Owen’s quaint-looking English home. Indeed, whether it be the Teutonic nightmare Major Maxim leading a destructive “search under his own discretion” for an ancient artefact, Abbey Chase exchanging pistol fire with a number of automatic weapon-toting Hammer operatives, or Sydney Savage bullwhipping her opponents into submission, all of this comic’s sense-shattering shenanigans are essentially confined to the fantasy card game inventor’s living room; “Can we try to treat Eddy’s pad with a little respect?”

Fortunately however, that doesn’t mean for a second that J. Scott Campbell’s story contains any unnecessary padding, as every single one of this twenty-two page periodical’s numerous panels help to either progress the narrative or inform those bibliophiles new to the mini-series as to what has taken place beforehand. Admittedly, Chase’s ruminations concerning her co-players and the relic hunter’s previous exploits might seem a little duplicitous considering that they follow straight on from this book’s black and white summary of past events, but intermingled within her flashbacks are some nicely penned insights as to just how insecure Abbey feels about fitting in with the rest of the “Danger Girl” team.

Moreover, just as soon as “Fox Force Five” cross the threshold of Owen’s partially-demolished abode in the dead of night, this comic’s creative collaboration dial up the action ten-fold with a seemingly relentless carousel of trigger-happy “dummkopfs” and lethal-looking secret agents. Foremost of these forces for evil has to be the “robotic monstrosity” Major Maxim, whose utterly relentless nature marks him out as the main villain of the piece. Superbly pencilled by Campbell, the goose-stepping automaton dominates every scene he’s in, soaking up every seemingly harmless bullet his opponents can riddle his black leather-clad torso with.

Similarly as successful is just how quickly a potentially promising situation goes horribly awry for the titular characters, intriguingly marking this comic out as one which isn’t simply concerned with depicting the good guys kicking butt all the time. One moment Chase appears certain to once again win the day by escaping the surrounding carnage with “Eddy’s little secret” clasped in her hands, and then in the next, Sydney Savage and Johnny Barracuda are clearly knocked out for the count, and Deuce’s line-up appears to suffer its first fatal casualty…

Story: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, Script: Andy Hartnell, and Drawings: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl #3 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #3, August 1998

Considering that this twenty-two page periodical simply doesn’t stop producing pulse-pounding moments of exhilarating action right up until its jaw-droppingly sinister, cliff-hanger of an ending, it is easy to see just why Issue Three of “Danger Girl” saw its sales increase by a whopping forty thousand copies in June 1998. Sure, a small portion of the comic’s 120,588 readers might have found this sense-shattering pace a little too relentless as Abbey Chase and Johnny Barracuda desperately attempt to flee the Peach’s fascist forces with an antique shield, but for the vast majority of their fans J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s plot is a tour-de-force as to how to pen adventure comics perfectly.

For starters it soon becomes crystal clear just how fast-thinking this book’s leading ‘sexy female secret agent’ can be, when she utilises both her formidable feminine wiles and impressive improvisation skills to steal an ancient artefact from right under the nose of “the Manimal” whilst ‘enjoying’ an intimate bath with the arms dealer. Surrounded by gun-toting, gas-mask wearing goons, Chase defies all the odds with a well-aimed shot at a chandelier, and subsequently shows she also makes a mean snow sledge driver to boot by outpacing a number of trigger-happy, Hammer Empire operatives; “I race back with the shield, decipher the hieroglyphics, I’m a hero.”

In complete contrast, the collaborative team’s “charismatic” spy, Barracuda, rather delightfully seems to get by through sheer blind luck at times, with the secret agent’s elongated ego compelling him to be far more concerned with his boyish good looks and delivering witty one-liners, than the inherent danger he is clearly surrounded by. Such evident differences in character really helps make this pair a truly humorous partnership to watch, and creates some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments amidst all the storyline’s frantic fighting.

Equally as enjoyable, as well as yet another reason as to why this publication was the fourth best-selling title of the month, are Campbell’s luscious storyboards. Whether it be Abbey doing her best impression of Captain America riding down a snow-laden piste on a shield, or Johnny impressively blazing away at his numerous heavily-armed pursuers with a blowback-operated submachine gun, the Michigan-born artist imbues each and every panel of the publication with plenty of pencilled passion.

Plot: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, and Pencils: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl #2 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #2, May 1998

Absolutely crammed full of high octane car chases, gun-toting helicopters and shadowy spycraft, J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s narrative for Issue Two of “Danger Girl” clearly gave its 82,251 strong audience “something that seems familiar, but at the same time is brand new”. For whilst the twenty-two page periodical’s plot undoubtedly reminded its fans “of greats like James Bond, Indiana Jones, and G.I. Joe”, the sheer sassiness of Abbey Chase, unorthodox nature of Sydney Savage, and cringeworthy smoothness of Johnny Barracuda also imbues the comic’s leading cast with their “own distinct personality and feel.”

Foremost of this utterly engaging world is the fast developing friendship between the team’s newest recruit and its well-established Australian operative. Agent Chase’s frantically-fast car pursuit on the outskirts of Paris is as gripping as it is pulse-pounding, especially when she decides her “heavily modified Porsche Boxster” would make a better land-to-air missile than mode of transportation. Yet her success in destroying two heavily-armed helicopters with some quick thinking, a grenade pin and a two-seater sports cars isn’t just for show, but also provides Savage with all the evidence she needs to readily accept her new co-player; “Abbey. About those Danger Girl physical requirements… I think it’s safe to say you’ve qualified.”

Setting aside all its sense-shattering, roadside shenanigans, “Dangerous Liaisons” also delivers when it comes to presenting this seven-part series’ resident “girl magnet”, the Barracuda. Apparently exuding a charm which is “more effective than guns”, the C.I.A.’s finest literally skis into this book as if he was the main protagonist of Peter Hunt’s 1969 film “On Her Majesty's Secret Service”, and even gives the reader a cheeky, fourth wall breaking wink, which is seemingly pencilled by Campbell to be highly reminiscent of Bond actor George Lazenby.

Johnny’s introduction admittedly somewhat slows the pacing of this comic’s storyline a little. However, this ‘breather’ is short-lived, and quickly leads into a wonderfully tense exploration of a soiree “being held tonight, hosted by former cohorts of the Peach” in Switzerland. Undercover and surrounded by red-beret wearing, gas-masked goons, a scantily-clad Abbey’s search for a mysterious ancient shield owned by the aforementioned special weapons smuggler, genuinely resonates some tension, particularly when the murderous owner of the artefact pays an unhelpful visit back to his "very own suite complete with a bona fide sweetie!"

Plot: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, and Pencils: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl #1 - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL #1, March 1998

Weighing in as the fifth best-selling title of March 1998, at least according to “Diamond Comics Distributors”, this thirty-page periodical must have had its 109,619 readers squealing in utter delight as its furiously fast-paced antics, with authors Andy Hartnell and J. Scott Campbell’s irrefutably living up to their pre-publication promise that this mini-series would take “a bit of an old fashioned approach” and be “very much an action adventure book.” Indeed, even those within its impressively-sized audience who missed the previously printed preview pamphlet “Prelude To Danger!”, would quickly have been caught up in Abbey Chase’s breakneck attempt to recapture “the elusive golden skull of Koo-Koo Diego”, courtesy of the collaborative creators providing both a useful black and white summary of their story's earlier events, as well as a non-stop introductory boat chase over some troubled waters in Costa Rica; “Always the one with the temper that Abbey. Always having to destroy something. But alas, three homes, a yacht, and a chateau in the Alps later, she’s finally dead! Love makes you do crazy things.”

Admittedly, after so thrilling a start Hartnell’s script for Issue One of “Danger Girl” perhaps somewhat understandably has to slow down for a short while, even if it is to allow its fans to catch their breaths following Natalia Kassle’s ultimately successful, last-second rescue attempt atop a thunderously powerful waterfall. But even so dialogue-driven a sequence as Deuce introducing his “eponymous group of three sexy female secret agents” is imbued with plenty of panache, courtesy of some fantastically pencilled flashback panels by Campbell, which depict the former British Secret Service Agent in his heyday, and the rest of the team’s decidedly adventurous credentials.

Moreover, it isn’t too long until this comic’s titular characters are off on a surveillance assignment in France, and Sydney Savage’s “fat guy”, the Peach, demonstrates there is a much more murderous side to the “illegal arms dealer who has ties to the Hammer Empire” than the softly spoken, balding criminal’s physical appearance would suggest. In fact, the shockingly sudden, cold-blooded killing of the “Hungarian art thief known as Rico Lugosi” probably caused a fair few of this book’s bibliophiles to momentarily drop this comic in their consternation. Albeit the subsequent frantically-paced vehicle chase involving the Australian Danger Girl and a lorry load of enemy agents would soon have had them once again thoroughly enthralled in this publication’s sense-shattering shenanigans…

Plot: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, and Pencils: J. Scott Campbell

Danger Girl Preview - Image Comics

DANGER GIRL PREVIEW, December 1997

Despite this publication printed in the late Nineties consisting of just eight pages, it is still easy to see from its pulse-pounding narrative that its storytellers Andy Hartnell and J. Scott Campbell were strongly influenced by “all the things we both grew up watching on television and seeing at the movies.” Indeed, such is the frantic pace set by Abbey Chase as the “heart-stopping femme fatale” flees an alligator infested swamp whilst simultaneously pursuing Donavin Conrad across Costa Rica, that many within its audience probably would not have been at all surprised to have seen George Lucas’ “homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials”, Indiana Jones, make a surprise guest appearance; “If you don’t get that gun outta my face, an eye won’t be your only damaged organ.”

As it is though, this frustratingly short-lived “preview [successfully] gives you a glimpse of what Abbey’s capable of” by capturing all the excitement and high octane danger of Guy Hamilton’s 1973 spy film “Live And Let Die”, courtesy of a superbly re-imagined run across the backs of some crotchety crocodilians, which not only replicates Ross Katanga's heart-stopping stunt at a crocodile farm in Jamaica’s Montego Bay, but even directly refers back to its obvious James Bond roots by having the “freelance treasure hunter” exclaim “This never happened to Roger Moore!” when her tight trousers are tantalisingly torn by the snapping bite of a hungry gator and she inadvertently shows far more ‘cheek’ than she would have liked.

The collaborative creators’ “stereotypical aristocratic villain” Conrad is equally as much fun to read about however, with the one-eyed, thinly moustached rogue seemingly far too much in love with himself to realise the inherent jeopardy he is in whenever he gets within close proximity of his “sweet school girl crush”. Dripping greasy charm and a serious superiority complex, it’s clear the well-dressed criminal always has a secret escape route to hand, even when his nearby yacht is blown to smithereens, and this delusional “charming demeanour” contrasts really well with Abbey’s far more realistic, determination to “take that skull and shove it straight up his --”

Nevertheless, undeniably this book’s most compelling feature has to be Campbell’s astonishingly attractive artwork, which must surely have captured the imagination of any perusing bibliophile who happened to catch a glimpse of this comic upon the spinner rack. “Loosely inspired” by the East Tawas-born illustrator’s wife, Chase’s buxom defiance dominates every scene she features in, whether that be her simply being held to account by a pair of Donavin’s goons, athletically leaping to safety through a flurry of bullets, or dramatically driving a jeep headlong down a tortuously winding cliff road…

First published on the "Dawn of Comics" website.'

Story: Andy Hartnell & J. Scott Campbell, and Pencils: J. Scott Campbell