Danger Girl



Infamous Fan Service comic artist J. Scott Campbell's first solo foray into the comic world, Danger Girl is notorious for many reasons, two of which are the ridiculous amount of cheesecake in the book, and the lengthy timeframe between issues, sometimes exceeding a year. The series is a satirical, yet sometimes dark, take on the espionage genre, and centered on Abigail Chase, a former treasure seeker who gets sucked into the Danger Girl team by happenstance when their paths cross during her encounters with a hostile nemesis. Abbey, as she was mostly known, pretty much played the straight woman to the rest of the quirky team.

The Danger Girls consist of Sydney Savage, reckless thrill-seeker extraordinaire from the Land Down Under, who has a thing for whips and catsuits; Natalia Kassle, the Russian assassin/resident ice queen, ; Silicon Valerie, the teenage techno-geek who has expertise in all things computer-related ; J.C., a Canadian mechanic with an affinity for tinkering and creating mostly bizarre yet useful inventions for the team.

Their leader is Deuce, a former agent for Her Majesty's Secret Service who was recruited by the United Nations to lead the first all female spy team. More or less he's a caricature of Sean Connery, right down to the facial expressions and mannerisms.

The series debuted in March, 1998 and is still ongoing. The series spawned a Play Station game and a TV Pilot Movie, though the former was the only one that actually made it past the concept stage. It has, however recently been optioned for the big screen, to be directed by Todd Lincoln and produced by the same people that worked on the Hitman film.

This series provides examples of:

 * Absolute Cleavage: It's amazing that Sydney can zip her suit up all the way, but she's hardly the only one.
 * Action Girl
 * Adventurer Archaeologist: Abigail Chase.
 * Applied Phlebotinum: Serum X, the Super Soldier compound created by Dr. Von Kripplor that fuels Maxim.
 * The Archer: Sonya Savage
 * Artifact of Doom: Also an Upgrade Artifact.
 * Awesome Aussie: Sydney Savage
 * Badass Grandpa: Deuce. He's clearly past his prime but manages to fend off a squad of Hammer assassins alone and escape with no real injuries.
 * Hammer Leader becomes a Badass Great Grandpa.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Danger Girl team (Natalia, Sydney and Valerie respectively) when Abbey meets them.
 * Chair Reveal: In  Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #4, Agent Zero shoots what he thinks is his target through the back of a chair. He then walks round to the front of the chair and instead finds a dummy rigged to a bomb with three seconds left on the timer
 * Clothing Damage: Frequently, and often on purpose. Once with alligators.
 * Commie Nazis: The Hammer empire.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: Unsurprisingly, the girls use this tactic. A lot.
 * Expy: Most obviously Deuce to the Connery James Bond, and Johhny Barracuda to Bruce Campbell, but much of the first arc also reads like an extended homage to G.I. Joe, with The Hammer standing in for Cobra, Agent Zero for Snake Eyes, Assassin X for Storm Shadow,  for the Baroness... Heck, even some of the vehicles that appear look like they were directly inspired by classic Joe or Cobra craft.
 * Major Maxim is an imposingly-sized field commander clad head-to-toe in black life support/augmentation equipment serving a decrepit old puppetmaster in charge of an evil empire, rather like Darth Vader.
 * Also, Bland-Name Product versions of Mario and the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys incarnation of Hercules on Valerie's introduction spread.
 * Eye Awaken:
 * Fan Service: Constantly, and of both the female and male variety despite the title.
 * God Guise: In Revolver, natives believe that Abbey is their sun goddess returned because she has blonde hair.
 * Hurricane of Puns: Too many, way too many.
 * I Am Not Shazam: As Abbey Chase is sometimes drawn with a DG belt buckle. Some people think Danger Girl is her code-name but Danger Girl is the name of the team not any one member.
 * Mad Scientist: Complete with "German" accent.
 * MST3K Mantra: From the Lampshade Hanging to the bonus material, it's very clear that the series is meant to be brainless, fanservicey fun, not high art.
 * Murderous Thighs: Used by Abbey to wrest information from a guard in the first series.
 * My Hero Zero: Agent Zero.
 * Nerds Are Sexy: Even on a team that otherwise consists of Fan Service incarnate, Slicon Valerie is still quite a looker.
 * Not Quite Dead: Coupled with No One Could Survive That.
 * Now or Never Kiss: May also have just been because Johnny is a Handsome Lech.
 * Nipple-and-Dimed: With bubbles, among other things.
 * Pineapple Surprise: Happens to mercenary in Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness.
 * Pungeon Master: Johhny Barracuda.
 * Pretty in Mink: Abigail wears a mink coat when infiltrating a high class party.
 * Schedule Slip
 * Spell My Name with an "S": It's Silicon Valerie, as in computers; Not Silicone Valerie, as in... well, you know.
 * Spell My Name with a "The": The Peach.
 * Spy Catsuit: Sydney wears an archetypal example.
 * Thought by many to be a Shout-Out to Vanessa's in the original Austin Powers considering proximity of releases and the comic's penchant for references.
 * Super Serum: The blue, glowing, apparently radioactive liquid Doctor Von Kripplor tests on a hapless prisoner, one Agent Falcon. It fails spectacularly, reducing him to blue sludge. Apparently, it's meant to turn people into Major Maxim-the only successful test subject, a huge, burly man in a gas mask and red goggles.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Assassin X to Agent Zero.
 * Those Wacky Nazis: the Hammer is initially described as an alliance between Neo-Nazis and former KGB agents, but - by the end of the first story arc - it's mainly Nazis.
 * Waterfall Shower: Abbey and Ash take one, to wash off zombie goo, in Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #5.
 * Wet Sari Scene: As much as it's possible to convey this in a comic, when Abbey, in a white t-shirt, goes swimming. Subsequent panels seem to indicate she's not wearing anything underneath, with the heavy implication her shirt is now see through.
 * Whip It Good: Sydney Savage.
 * X Meets Y: Danger Girl is Charlie's Angels meets James Bond.