Sunday, January 14, 2007

A Dummy's Guide to Danger #3-4


A Dummy’s Guide To Danger #3-4
Story Jason M. Burns
Art Ron Chan
Letters Greg Gatlin

Viper Comics

The final issue of the series ties up all the loose ends from the previous three issues and provides for a very satisfying conclusion to this mysterious yet, manic mini-series. I really hope that there are plans in Viper’s future publishing to include more from this talented dynamic duo, Jason M. Burns and Ron Chan, because this is a series that deserves more air time as well as a greater readership.

Sometimes, readers (me included) allow such wild concepts such as an alien baby from another planet to be our daily heroic savior or a silver alien on a galactic-hardened surf-board used to traverse the cosmos as par for the course in our reading. However, it is the unique twists to the more mundane circumstances of everyday living that capture my fancy a bit more. Alan is a private investigator with acumen for solving bizarre crimes. Mr. Bloomberg is his buddy, confidant and partner in solving crime. Mr. Bloomberg, primly decked out in a black suit displaying professional, sartorial taste is also…a dummy. Yep…the kind you sit on your lap and stick your fingers in to move its mouth.

Alan throws his voice into the dummy making for some of comicdom’s most adroit and cleverest comebacks. What makes this uniquely fulfilling as a reader is that we get caught up in the moment as we watch the witty repartee between detective/ventriloquist and his dummy as they search for the insanely sick Flesh Collector while battling an untrusting, quick-to-accuse-and-condemn, police officer, Boyd. What I appreciate about Burns’ characterization of Alex, is that we get to see his dual personalities, which are complete opposites, find common ground in solving crimes. There isn’t much left to guessing about how Alex feels as he lets his emotions come plainly out of his own mouth as well as Mr. Bloomberg’s. What a great angle for analyzing the depth and personality of a character.

(Read the rest on TheComicsReview.com)

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