Molly Danger is a not-so-graphic novel from the mind of Brooklyn’s own Jamal Igle. If you know his name, great; continue reading and skip this paragraph. If you don’t know his name, then now you know.. (know). The guy has done a little bit of everything, from Supergirl to Kiss to GI Joe. My first taste of Jamal’s awesome artwork came on his New Warriors run when Jay Faerber was writing it. I then followed Jamal’s work like a Firestorm, constantly.
I knew the guy could draw. I knew he could draw just about anything.
I did not know he could tell a story this well.
He wrote and drew this book. He created this book. He put his blood, sweat and tears into this book.
And it shows.
With Molly Danger, Jamal has created a superhero comic book that can be enjoyed by everyone from the smallest and newest reader of comics (such as Moody’s Power Rangers/TMNT-watching neice) to the most jaded of comic readers burnt out on event books, who just want a taste of something fresh, new and exciting (take a wild guess!). Molly Danger is exciting. Molly Danger is something else.
Molly Danger is a breath of fresh air.
When you’ve read comics as long as the Cleric has, you see things come and go. You witness the big “events” and you witness rehashes of the same stories. They all come with big, flashy covers that are supposed to be collector’s items. And all the while, you as a fan and, perhaps, hopeful creator sit by the wayside, hoping for something more, wishing that something will come and drag you out of the dark and throw you into the light of something beautiful.
Jamal did that. In 48 pages, he’s created a book that completely sparks the imagination, gets the brain going, and makes me want to read it again. His artwork travels along the lines of Mark Bagley, Bryan Hitch and Kevin Maguire, and those are all incredibly fantastic artists to look like. But it’s not as if he’s miming these artists. He’s just that good. He gets the emotions that most other artists might leave behind. The small facial tics. The small beats. The parts of the comic book world that can be passed over for the sake of incredible action and adventure.
And he does it. So well. He also does the action and adventure and even throws a twist or two into the book that I can promise you won’t see coming. I won’t spoil them here, seeing how the fun of reading Molly is in getting knocked for a loop when you get to them.
In a nutshell, this book is fun. Think Saturday morning cartoons. Think pajamas and cereal and Scooby Doo. Now throw in a heaping dash of James Bond, The Ultimates, and a bunch of other crazy concepts blended together…and you’ll get Molly Danger.
The book doesn’t go for dark and dreary. It goes for humor and it goes for heart. It’s a modern-day superhero story where the hero has problems and has her feet firmly placed in a sense of reality. The Dark Knight, it is not. Mol’s having fun and enjoying what she’s doing. Even when it’s not all roses, you feel for her like she’s your sister or your daughter or your friend. She’s a real, breathing entity.
I can’t help but pile the praise on this book. I missed out on the Kickstarter campaign, and I’m glad I did. My face isn’t in the book as a fallen comrade or a villain or a random person standing on the sidewalk and my name isn’t in the back pages as a special thanks. That’s okay. Because I get to search for a copy of this book, hunt it down, buy a copy for myself (and some friends and family members) — and maybe I’ll buy copies and just hand them out at Halloween. Even if I had gotten a copy of the pdf as part of the Kickstarter campaign, I love this book so much that I’d still want a physical copy.
And that’s the best praise I can give this book.
After reading it, I want to buy it. I want to spend my money on this book and make it a top-selling book and make Jamal Igle the big star that he deserves to be. You should all want to do the same. When you see it, don’t hesitate. Just buy it. Enjoy it. Read it. Share it with others. This is a book you want to know about and a book you’ll want to read. Trust me.
This is the first volume in a long-run, hopefully. Action Lab keeps getting better and better, and this is another perfect example of a book of theirs that will more than likely be nominated for Eisners, just like Princeless before it.
My only gripe? Jamal’s made it that much harder for the rest of us.
Molly Danger will be available at your Local Comic Shops on October 15th through Action Lab Entertainment. You can read more about Jamal Igle and his latest, greatest venture in an interview conducted by Batgirl scribe, Gail Simone, right here.