Half Past Danger – Overview
Half Past Danger
Created Written and drawn by Stephen Mooney.
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Covers: Stephen Mooney with variant covers by Lee Bermejo
Publisher: IDW
HALF PAST DANGER Mother f*#ker!
Are you reading it yet?
Well, if you’re not currently reading IDW’s fan-favourite comic book series let’s take a couple minutes and talk about why you should be.
Firstly writer and artist Stephen Mooney is himself actually Irish. So if Jedward can get by on the “Ah but they’re Irish, we have to support them” excuse. HPD more than deserves your support. (Plus its miles better anyway)
The story begins with Irishman Tommy ‘Irish’ Flynn leading a platoon of soldiers across an unnamed island in the south pacific in 1943 where they encounter a secret Nazi facility. Before much more can happen there the platoon is attacked … by dinosaurs. Some of the lads even get eaten. Now let that sink in …
So having barely survived the island Flynn is loosely recruited to return, this time as a guide for his new teammates:
- Special agent Elizabeth Huntington-Moss of the MI6: Femme fatale. Badass.
- All-American military Captain John Noble: Captain America meets Superman meets … a very big boy scout.
- That just leaves Ishikawa Minamoto: Ninja. Ishi’s a man of few words, but he’s “handy in a scrap” as Tommy puts it.
So that’s our crew, a rag-tag assembly of mayhem returning to Dino-Island to discover the truth about what the Nazi’s are up to all while dodging dinosaurs, bullets and all kinds of chaos.
Half Past Danger is an action packed thrill ride of adventure where you’ll quickly find yourself pulled into the story and only disappointed when it leaves you wanting more. Chocked full of old school pulp, Its Indiana Jones meets Jurassic Park with ninja’s and Nazi’s abound. Forget Action-Man, A Tommy Flynn action figure would have made my childhood. Stephen Mooney’s art throughout the series is clear, concise and at the same time very detailed, showing you just what you need when you need to see it. Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight color artist Jordie Bellaire’s talent on this series too. Bellaire’s colors are an outstanding addition for me, bold and dynamic when it suits and quietly leading eye in other panels. The yellowing of the page edges gives the book that old-school worn and weathered look that draws you into the time period, an excellent touch among many others.
Now I’ve said this before but it’s definitely a high point of the book for me and many others I know who are reading it, and it might seem silly to hear it but, Tommy Flynn’s accent. It’s perfect. I’m finally reading an Irish accent in a comic book and I love it. It’s done so well you almost don’t notice but when you do its brilliance. Maybe it’s just me that loves reading Flynn fly off the handle when Ishikawa sneaks up on’m. “JAYSIS! Feck’ sake, Ishi”
So now we’re 5 issues into Half Past Danger with issue 6 on the way. You now have no excuse not to get in on this. Run to your local comic shop and demand the first 5. Tell them we sent you if it helps. You do that and we’ll see you here again when we dig into issue 6.
See you then!
Summer, 1943 and in the midst of a war waged by monsters, Staff sergeant Tommy ‘Irish’ Flynn never expected to encounter a real one.
But on a remote island in the south pacific theatre, Flynn and his squad come face-to-fanged-face with creatures long thought dead.
As the world falls apart, a unique set of characters come together:
An embittered Irishman in a war not his own,
A beautiful and enigmatic British agent,
A U.S Marine Captain with incredible resilience and a secret,
And a mysterious operative from the land of the Rising Sun.
All served up in a stew of piping-hot Nazi intrigue.
[Words, Seán Ó Cinnéide]
