Danger Girl

Danger Girl
Cover art for Danger Girl #1 (March 1998). Art by J. Scott Campbell and Alex Garner.
Publication information
Publisher	IDW Publishing
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Miniseries
Genre	Action, Spy
Publication date	March 1998 - Present
Number of issues	7 issue original series, new series currently ongoing
Main character(s)	Abbey Chase Sydney Savage Natalia Kassle Silicon Valerie Deuce Johnny Barracuda
Creative team
Writer(s)	J. Scott Campbell Andy Hartnell
Penciller(s)	J. Scott Campbell
Inker(s)	Alex Garner
Letterer(s)	Richard Starkings
Colorist(s)	Joe Chiodo Martin Jimenez
Creator(s)	J. Scott Campbell Andy Hartnell
Editor(s)	Scott Dunbier

Danger Girl is a North American comic book series created by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell. The comic stars an eponymous group of female secret agents who are homages to Bond Girls, and who engage in adventures in the vein of James Bond and Indiana Jones. They are led by a former British Secret Service Agent named Deuce.

Cast

Danger Girl Freelance Operations Limited

• Abbey Chase is a champion marksman, virtuoso of languages, scholar of world history, and (most widely) a heart-stopping femme fatale. Though spending the majority of her young life as a loner, Abbey is both a team player and a natural leader. She began her career as a freelance treasure hunter working under the radar and outside the law. And to this day, Abbey still finds herself trying to elude the many villainous characters she'd crossed and outwitted in her pre-Danger Girl days. After bumping into the Danger Girls during one of her adventure-filled hunts, Abbey shepherded the ladies to victory in their first battle against the menacing Hammer Empire. Soon after, Abbey became a full-fledged member of this international covert-operations unit. She replaced Natalia Kassle as DG's field-commander.

• Sydney Savage is the sassy and vivacious Danger Girl who fittingly originates from the picturesque continent of Australia. Though often reprimanded for her wild and unorthodox ways, Sydney more often than not justifies her lawless techniques. More than any of the other Danger Girls, Sydney takes frequent advantage of her good looks…deploying her curvaceous form to distract and defeat the ladies’ primarily-male nemeses. Sydney seems to have a love/hate relationship with Johnny Barracuda, who often makes sexualized passes at her which she either coyly accepts or acidicly rebuffs. Sydney also appears to have a crush on Batman/Bruce Wayne in the Batman/Danger Girl crossover.

• Deuce is a former British Secret Service Agent who was lured away from retirement when invited to fashion and oversee the world’s first all-female espionage network—a secret organization that would adopt the code name Danger Girl. His true name was never revealed throughout the series, but speculation always led the reader to believe he's James Bond, as he makes a strong resemblance to Sean Connery's incarnation of the cult-classic secret agent.

• Silicon Valerie is a teenager who graduated top of her class at Oxford, years before she could even obtain a valid driver’s license. Though Valerie could have easily secured a safe and lucrative career in the field of communications technology, her love of danger led to a chance encounter with Deuce…who welcomed her into his employ as a Danger Girl-in-training. Valerie monitors the Danger Girls' status during their missions, but she secretly desires to go on such a mission herself.

• Johnny Barracuda is a handsome CIA agent with a large ego and a sex drive to match. He collaborates with the Danger Girls on various missions; they seem to enjoy taking sexual potshots at each other. Has a love/hate relationship with Sydney Savage.

• Secret Agent Zero is a master of disguise and spy of unknown origin, besides being the only Hammer agent who's ever defected AND lived to tell about it. No one knows what he looks like beneath his mysterious mask, but he appears to have a connection with Abbey Chase. He could possibly be her missing-and-presumed-dead father; he does keep a photo of Abbey, taken during her childhood, with him. It is also thought that he's originally Diabolik himself, but any reference to his own personal past was never mentioned.

• Sonya Savage is the sister of Sydney Savage, who is one of the original members of Danger Girl. Sonya received her training from the Australian secret agency ASIS. She is secretly in the employ of Veronica Fox who does not trust the Danger Girl team to retrieve the artifact that she desires. Sonya works alongside the team, but at the end of the mission decides to stay on as a third team member. Sonya is in peak physical condition and is unparalleled in her ability with a bow and arrow. She sometimes employs trick arrows (much as those with transponders or explosive on them.)

Hammer Empire ("The Fourth Reich")

• Natalia Kassle This sultry Russian is the only Danger Girl who ever went bad. She was chosen to join the Danger Girl organization for her phenomenal combat and espionage talents, honed in the KGB, and also for her more-obvious outstanding attributes. Natalia was the team’s original field-commander; unfortunately, she also turned out to be a double agent, secretly working for the neo-Nazi Hammer Empire. She nearly led the Danger Girls to their deaths, but was ultimately exposed and defeated. Currently a general in the Hammer Empire, Natalia continually attempts to take over the world…though her ultimate passion is to do away with nemesis Abbey Chase, who has succeeded her as deputy-leader of the Danger Girls.

• Major Maxim is the monstrous mastermind and muscle behind the Hammer Empire’s military forces. Once but a wounded soldier of those very forces, Maxim became an unwilling volunteer to Doctor Kharnov Von Kripplor’s Übermensch (Super-Soldier) program. The only "success" of the strange procedure, Maxim soon became dependent on the mysterious blue Übermensch fluid that supplies and sustains his massive size and strength. He has never been shown without his mask, and his real name remains unknown.

• Assassin X is a mysterious blind ninja who works for the Hammer Empire. He appears to have a long and complicated history with Secret Agent Zero.

• Kid Dynamo is a villainous dwarf who has a giant grudge against Johnny Barracuda. His weapon of choice is a pair of extendable golden arms. The last time he was ever seen, Dynamo had dressed himself as a miniature Adolf Hitler.

• Mr Giggles is a cadaverous man with an artificial larynx and a hand replaced with a steel claw. He acts as a straight man for Kid Dynamo.

• Doctor Kharnov Von Kripplor is a scientist bent on making insane experiments for the Hammer. He is also the creator of Übermensch Serum X. Half of his face has been heavily stitched up; it seems to be either mutating, rotting or both.

• The Peach The Peach is an illegal arms dealer who has ties to the Hammer Empire.

• Donavin Conrad Donavin is a cartoonish rogue who lost his right eye to Abbey Chase. Despite appearing to be the stereotypical aristocratic villain, Conrad's image is largely an elaborate charade. He also wears a toupée. Donavin later lost a hand to The Joker when the Danger Girls joined forces with Batman.

Comic miniseries and one-shots

• Danger Girl – The original seven-issue series, illustrated and co-written by J. Scott Campbell, follows the adventures of newcomer Abbey Chase as she joins the Danger Girls to face the evil neo-Axis group known as the Hammer. The plot include endless double crosses and fast-paced battles against spectacular villains such as the mysterious Major Maxim.
• Danger Girl: Kamikaze – This two-issue manga/shōnen-style follow-up miniseries by Tommy Yune has the team back together as they join a buxom Hong Kong operative hot on the trail of stolen nuclear weaponry. This time an eastern neo-Axis syndicate known as the Kama (Japanese word for "sickle") led by the Shogunner is gathering secret technology to complete a long-lost superweapon.
• Danger Girl Special – A one-shot featuring the virtual adventures of Silicon Valerie by Art Adams. The flip side of the book features a story with artwork by Joe Chiodo.
• Danger Girl: Hawaiian Punch – The Danger Girl crew decide it is time for a change in scenery and some much deserved playful bikini-clad recreation and relaxation on the beach. They head to bask in the Hawaiian sunshine, but they're soon drawn into a diabolical plot masterminded by an eccentric Hawaiian billionaire who has developed a cunning business plan that will make his new amusement park the most popular in the entire country. The girls find trouble in paradise in this one shot featuring the artwork of Phil Noto.
• Danger Girl: Viva Las Danger – Featuring Phil Noto art again, the girls are back in action as the Las Vegas Strip becomes the target of a hostile takeover.
• Batman / Danger Girl – The girls form an unlikely alliance with Batman as they go on assignment in Gotham City. Featuring the artwork of Leinil Francis Yu.
• Danger Girl: Back in Black – Written by Andy Hartnell this four-issue miniseries features the artwork of Nick Bradshaw. The Danger Girls are on a mission to recover a powerful and ancient Native American artifact which was stolen. Features a new sexy ally named Ruby.
• Danger Girl: Body Shots – A four-issue miniseries written by Andy Hartnell featuring the artwork of Nick Bradshaw and Jim Charalampidis.
• Danger Girl: 3-D Special – Taken from the first two issues of original series, illustrated and co-written by J. Scott Campbell, with some added artwork, done in 3-D.
• Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness – A six-issue crossover with Dynamite Entertainment's Army of Darkness series of comics, co-published with IDW Publishing in April 2011.^[1]
• Danger Girl: Revolver – A four-issue miniseries written by Andy Hartnell, art by Chris Madden, colors by Jeromy Cox, published by IDW Publishing in January 2012.^[2]
• Danger Girl / G.I. Joe – A five-issue crossover with G.I. Joe, published by IDW Publishing in July 2012.^[3]
• Danger Girl: Trinity – An all-new series in which each of the three Danger Girls' adventures is illustrated by a different artist (UK artist John Royle, American artist Brian Stelfreeze, and Canadian artist Stephen Molnar) written by Danger Girl co-creator Andy Hartnell, published by IDW Publishing in April 2013.
• Danger Girl: The Chase – A four-issue series written by Danger Girl co-creator Andy Hartnell and illustrated by Harvey Tolibao. Cover art by American illustrator Dan Panosian. Published by IDW Publishing in September 2013. Issues 1-4 variant photo covers by Jeff Zoet. Issue 1 - Abbey Chase portrayed by Shannon McKee. Issue 2 - Natalia Kassle portrayed by Brittany Rotto. Issue 3 - Sydney Savage portrayed by Erin Cumiskey.
• Danger Girl: Mayday – An all-new series written by Danger Girl co-creator Andy Hartnell and illustrated by John Royle. Cover art by John Royle. To be published by IDW Publishing in April 2014.

Appearances in other media

Video game

A Danger Girl video game was released for Sony PlayStation in 2000.^[4] It is loosely based on the first series which were consisted of seven comic issues, but there have been many significant changes from the original storyline, such as Abbey Chase being a veteran Danger Girl operative and Natalia Kassle working for The Hammer from the very beginning of the adventure. Plus, it features a brand new character in one of the leading roles, named JC, which is described as the "newcomer" in the agency, filling in the shoes of Natalia as her replacement. However, the game has received negative reviews from critics, with IGN giving the game 3.2/10, alternately "awful" ^[5] and GameSpot ranking the game as "bad" product, with a 3.9/10 rate.^[6]

Action figures

Four 7" Danger Girl figures were released by McFarlane Toys: Abbey Chase, Sydney Savage, Natalia Kassle, & Major Maxim. After the immediate sell-out of the figures, an encore edition featuring the three Danger Girls was also released. Dragon Model Toys later released two of the three Danger Girls as 12" (1/6 Scale) action figures. The two figures (in new outfits) were Abbey Chase & Sydney Savage.

Abbey, Sydney, Natalia, and Major Maxim were also made as figures in the Indy set of the popular HeroClix collectible miniatures game.

References

External links

• "Danger Girl Review". IGN.
• Danger Girl at MobyGames