Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Danger Girl: Back In Black TPB

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Nolando
    Senior Member

  • Danger Girl: Back In Black TPB


    Published by: IDW Publishing
    Released on: Aug. 6, 2014


    This volume collects the four-issue run of an older DG story, focusing primarily on lead girl Abbey Chase and fellow team member Sydney Savage as they infiltrate a biker gang in order to recover a powerful sacred object that's been stolen.

    [SPOILERS]

    Abbey is still working undercover at this point, living in San Francisco's Chinatown. Walking home one day, she receives an oddly cryptic fortune cookie before going into her local mini-mart which is apparently being robbed. The store owner tells her what's up and that she should leave but she plays up her “clumsy female” persona and manages to apprehend the robbers.

    She returns to her apartment to find two motorcycles parked outside, one emblazoned with the Australian flag. Realizing it's Sydney she rushes in and the two quickly catch up. Sydney has actually brought her a disc with their latest mission on it. Deuce tells her that a government convoy was recently attacked in South Dakota and one object in particular had been stolen - a Native American totem skull called the Black Seed. The government has asked for their help in retrieving this so Deuce tasks Abbey and Sydney to go undercover on those motorcycles out front and infiltrate the biker gang suspected in this hijack.

    They don the appropriate skimpy gear and head out, with Sydney busting through her tight corset eventually and it flying off. They stop so she can retrieve it and, naturally, a passing trucker snaps a photo. While she's off the side of the road fighting a rattlesnake to get it back, Abbey is approached by another female biker, thinking they need assistance. Her name is Ruby and they all head into the nearest town to find a bar, thinking that'd be as good a place as any to start looking for the outlaw bikers they're after.

    Ruby warns them that the place might be a little rough and, sure enough, they're all soon involved in the bar fight that's commenced. But it's brought to an end when Ox, the enormous leader of the Roadkillers gang that the Danger Girls are after, throws a pinball machine through the wall. The gang departs, leaving the girls to get that drink and for them to confide in Ruby what their mission is. Abbey then gets the chance to detail the history of the Black Seed: As part of the Sioux Nation's history, it was created as a last-ditch effort to prevent the tribes from being forced from their lands by the U.S. Army. A shaman was brought in, promising restoration of what they once had and that this skull would also return the dead to the living so all Sioux - current and ancestral - could live together in harmony and at peace on their land. But before any of that could happen the last of the Sioux leaders were massacred and the Black Seed disappeared...until now.

    Ruby finds this story ridiculous and laughs both at it and these two girls, thinking they can take on the entire Roadkillers crew on their own. But she pledges her help and the help of her own gang, the Black Widows.

    The story then shifts to Sweden and introduces the other major plot occurring in this series. Agent Zero, another DG team member, is searching for “pod number 7” at an evil scientist's lab. He's discovered but finds that the missing pod was taken to America that very morning. He then destroys the lab and everyone left inside it.

    Back in South Dakota, Abbey, Sydney and the Black Widows enter Sturgis for the annual rally. They know that with the huge crowds their job will be difficult but think that Ox will let his guard slip as a result, too. Once in town, they decide to split up, with Ruby pointing them toward a tattoo parlor popular with the Roadkillers. Ruby stays behind to tune up the girls bikes. After they leave, though, Ruby's approached by two criminal types - Dynamo and a tall, pale, ugly cuss - who are solely after Abbey and Sydney and want them dead. They warn Ruby not to cross them as they have something she wants.

    Over in Tokyo, it's next time to introduce another DG team member, Johnny Barracuda, a smooth-talking ladies' man there to retrieve some incriminating evidence from a business big-wig. He does so but then Agent Zero appears and tells him he's tripped the silent alarm. With his help, Johnny is able to escape the pursuing guards there, until they both go airborne in jetpacks and are then chased by helicopters. After some daring from Agent Zero that leaves Johnny without a jetpack, plunging into the waters below, they both are met by Deuce and the rest of the team aboard their ship.

    In the tattoo parlor, while spying on one of the Roadkillers, Sydney takes the opportunity to get herself a tattoo that Abbey isn't really sure about. Having planted a tracking device on this guy's ride, the girls set out that night to the remote surrounding countryside to confront the gang. On the way there, though, the girls notice their bikes are acting up - just in time for Dynamo and Mr. Giggles to attack with their machine gun-laden motorcycle and sidecar!

    Meanwhile, on the Danger Yacht, Deuce and the team discuss Abbey and Sydney's mission and what the Black Seed really is. Deuce hopes they'll return soon with more of that information and the artifact. But, at that moment, in the wilds of South Dakota, the girls are fighting for their lives, as Dynamo and Giggles' bullets tear up the ground around them. They know Ruby sabotaged their bikes now and Abbey has to jump onto Sydney's as her own explodes from taking bullets to the gas tank. But they soon manage to jump to safety from the ruined bike, sending their pursuers plunging off of a cliff.

    Back on the Danger Yacht, the team discusses obtaining The Lock, another crucial element that, when paired with the contents of this missing pod no. 7, could spell dire circumstances if used by the wrong people. Agent Zero and Johnny go undercover in order to intercept shipment of The Lock then. As for the Black Seed, Ox and his gang are meeting their benefactors, ready to receive their payment. Ruby is observing this secretly, hoping to get back what they're keeping hostage from her. Just then, Abbey and Sydney jump her and demand answers. Ruby tells them that the Roadkillers were hired by some “secret military outfit” led by The Gentleman. As it turns out, in order to use the resurrective powers of the Black Seed, you need a true descendant of the Sioux tribe. That turned out to be Ruby's mother, an expert in the ancient mysticism of her people. She'd been presented the opportunity to study the artifact, or so she thought, as she was then prisoner of The Gentleman, with Ruby forced to do their bidding to keep her mother alive.

    Abbey and Sydney let her go but, despite feeling for her, have their own mission at stake. However, the appearance then by the Black Widows makes them think perhaps they should join forces. Sydney creates a distraction by sneaking in and knocking all of the Roadkillers' bikes over, domino-style, which makes Ox suspect a double-cross and start shooting. Then the Black Widows enter the fray and start shooting as well. This allows Abbey to grab The Gentleman and demand to know where Ruby's mother is. He says he has her life in hand, and the strange phrasing recalls to Abbey the weird fortune cookie she received earlier. She then yells at Sydney not to touch the Black Seed as she was just about to do. Ox laughs at her, telling her to indeed keep her hands off his prize, bashing her out of the way and picking it up himself - only to turn into a smoldering corpse shortly thereafter.

    The girls know it's time to depart but Ruby's disappeared with the Black Seed, taking it to the helicopter transporting The Gentleman away. Since it's headed to where her mother is, Ruby handcuffs herself to the villain in order to ensure her safety. They get away and the girls report back in to Deuce who suspects he knows where it's headed. He orders them to return to the Danger Yacht. Meanwhile, Agent Zero and Johnny manage to sell their disguises and infiltrate the port where The Lock is to be delivered.

    Elsewhere, Ruby is finally reunited with her mother, pleading with her to show The Gentleman how the Black Seed works so they can finally be done with all this. But her mother knows that it's only brought death, not life, and refuses to be part of that - that is, until The Gentleman's lackey shoots Ruby dead, leaving her mother little choice but to use the Black Seed to restore her daughter.

    Now inside the fish rendering plant, Johnny and Agent Zero can remove their disguises and get to work. Agent Zero executes numerous guards while Johnny gets to the control room and uploads its computer's data to Val back on the Danger Yacht. This info allows Deuce to figure out where the Black Seed is, just as Abbey and Sydney show up, promising to get there and settle some scores. Their destination is the Parsons Reanimedics Center where, at that moment, Ruby's life hangs in the balance. It takes some doing but the artifact does what it promised, bringing Ruby back to life and inspiring The Gentleman to direct the missing pod no. 7 to be delivered to this place at once.

    Back in downtown Boston, Johnny and Agent Zero have secreted themselves away in the convoy truck, with the missing pod. They are in contact with Abbey and Sydney who are attempting to stop the convoy then. But the convoy trucks brush past their attempts easily. So the girls have to up their game and, seeing a nearby National Guard grounds, are able to do so by scoring themselves a tank! With that they've soon stopped the convoy and located their fellow teammates and the missing pod no. 7.

    They then head toward the Parsons building while, inside, Ruby is outraged that The Gentleman is not letting them go yet, awaiting instead the arrival of the contents of missing pod no. 7. But the team comes crashing into the building, giving Ruby the chance to try and make their escape. The Gentleman is about to cut her down but her mother throws the Black Seed at him. He manages to slice it in half which brings down half the building in the explosion, allowing The Gentleman to escape and Ruby and her mother a chance to get out.

    Abbey and Sydney are pinned down but Ruby's there to save them as the rest of the team joins up. Before they get an explanation from Deuce about the contents of missing pod no. 7 they find that it's missing, having been switched out on them in all the chaos. Deuce chalks the mission up to a complete failure but Abbey takes hope in the safe reunion of Ruby and her mother. Later, then, Sydney is able to show her tattoo to Johnny - a barracuda, just for his eyes. But then she's approached by strangers for autographs - on her picture in a calendar, after she lost her corset back in South Dakota. Sydney is outraged, naturally, and goes to Abbey who tells her they have bigger problems. She reveals that Deuce told her who was in missing pod no. 7…

    Finally, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, The Gentleman is aboard a private jet, talking to the contents of that missing pod (no. 7). He promises restoration someday and how strong they will be and that they'll have their revenge. The final panel reveals, at last, the name on the pod: Of one Natalia Kassle…

    Playful, well-paced, and chock-full of Danger Girl history this series is an outstanding example of what the title has to offer for both new and old fans alike. Andy Hartnell really has the storyline and characters fully in hand and delivers the goods expertly. Likewise, Nick Bradshaw' artwork is obsessively detailed, perfect for showing off big action scenes as well as curvy women. Fun from page one to its end this TPB should be on your shortlist of comics to pick up this month.
      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    Working...
    X