Landry Walker and Eric Jones have been partners in crime for a long time, but have stuck mostly to all-ages fare, creating books like the awesome Supergirl: Adventures in the 8th Grade, which can be enjoyed by readers of all ages, from kids to grandparents (like my mom, for instance). That all changed with “Danger Club,” which stuck to the teen genre, but as decidedly nothing a kid should read, and it’s even iffy that for teenagers. It’s unapologetically bloody and violent, with graphic depictions of sidekicks getting beaten to a pulp or incinerated by sci-fi laser beams. In fact, the first issue was so grisly and filled with kids turning on kids in a post apocalyptic, dystopian future, the best comparison for it, the elevator pitch, if you will, was “Teen Titans meets The Lord of the Flies.”
While the second issue departed for this concept a bit in favor of expanding upon the world in which the Danger Club kids live, it’s still the easiest comparison to make to anything else. It also displays its uniqueness as a property. No other series can really say they went there. In fact, the only peer this series has in terms of quality and ability to expand upon the genre it’s is the popular Image series “Morning Glories,” which itself is LOST meets “Runaways.” New takes on the genre like these are desperately needed to reinvigorate not only the genre of teenage books, but also to reinvigorate comics in general. The creative team in Walker and Jones, along with long time colorist partner Rusty Drake, use their chemistry to consistently create wonderful stories, and this book is obviously no exception.
Our lead (at least for now, who knows with a book like this), Kid Vigilante, will receive many comparisons to any of the incarnations of Robin, most likely Dick Grayson or Tim Drake. Going from fighting his former ally to teaming with his former enemy, Kid Vigilante has seen a lot of new scars show up in a short time, and the weariness is starting to show. Even in two issues, you can already tell he’s not prepared for something like this. Brilliant character work like this and the chances taken in the book are something that could never have happened at DC or perhaps even Marvel. They could never take the chances Walker and Jones have the freedom to do with their own universe, and that’s to the benefit of the series, and thanks to Image for publishing such a winning concept.
One of the strongest parts of the series in terms of chances taken, however, is Jones’ own challenge in the art. For every series he works on, he changes the art style, giving each book its own identity. Even though this book has the same parents as “Supergirl,” you’d be hard-pressed to see they’re at all related unless you happened upon the information already.
Perhaps the best and most important part of this recommendation is that the second issue only came out this week, so it’s really worth it to jump on right now and pick up those issues. There’s no back issue diving, there’s no trade waiting, it’s read to be picked up today. Go check it out. Pick it up from your local comic shop! If you want someone a little different from superhero comics, this book will not disappoint.
Especially if that something is blood. Lots and lots of blood.
