Monday 2 November 2015

Gold Digger Color Remix Issue 1



Gold Digger Color Remix Issue 1
Hitchhikers Guide To The Lost Cities Part 1 



Synopsis :
Somewhere over darkest  Peru,  the helicopter  charted by  the  diggers sisters are accosted by  three rather annoying, and heavily armed  helicopter.
Because of  heavy damage and  constant fire the helicopter, can't  stay in one place and the diggers sisters, Brittany and Gina, just have to jump out.
Which they do. 
As it turns out, they are  hot on the  tracks of El Dorado, the  hidden city of gold, where things are not  quite as they seem.
Along the way  they meet  the only  inhabitant of El Dorado, not turned in a mindless  stone zombie. 
Recount their family  history, in which we learn that Brittany is Gina's sister by adoption.
And  deal with  a  treacherous magician's  plan  to subjugate the  inhabitants of El Dorado.
And he almost got away with it too  !  







 Credits :
Story and Art, Fred Perry. 
Colors, GuruFX.

Cover Blurb : Oh wow, everything  looks so colorful.

Notes :
First appearances  :
Brittany Diggers,
Gina Diggers,
Ace,
Strype 
Penny Pinser

This issue is  34  pages. 
The mini series  is  NOT  part of the  free  Gold Digger  archive. 
This  issue was  $ 2,99  in  Jan  2006. 
This Mini Series  was re released in 2006  to celebrate 15  years of Gold Digger

Review :
Instead of  using the  original 1991  mini series, which I have...somewhere. 
I will be  reviewing the Color Remix series,  re released in 2006  mostly because I have those on hand. 

As far as the colors go  I can be short, while they are perfectly serviceable they don't  really fit Perry's  line art and  muddle his otherwise amazing and detailed line art  and duo tone shading.
But the colors  are  bright and colorfull  and don't  otherwise obscure the art  in anyway.   

Like The Savage Dragon, which was released around the same time, Gold Digger 1  wastes no time in getting started, exploding on the scene with a high octane action scene.  



It's  amazing  just how well formed  everybody  and their relationships already are.
Brittany and Gina have an somewhat adversary relationship, like most sisters  tend to have.  Although this one has a few more sharp edges then will be the norm  in future issues.
The rivalry with Penny, which will last for at least 50  issues,  is  in place as well. 
As are the skimpy outfits. 
And we meet Strype as well who will  be a major player in the comic as well.
This comic also establishes  the back story between Brittany and Gina,  all in one fell  swoop. 
Very  few  comics  start  running from the gate, this well formed, with this much  back story and  players and main characters already in place. 
If this issue wasn't issue 1 of a mini series,  you'd believe it was  issue  41  of a long running series.  



The art is also  quite well formed, but its obvious from the art that this is a mini series,  because of the lavish  details  laid on each and every panel. 
Perry would later pare down  his details and streamline  his figure work, for the rigors of a monthly schedule. But for the time being, the amount of detailing going on in this comic is  gorgeous, and they never bog down  the action or make things  incomprehensible. 

But there are also rough edges.
Gina is  described by Brittany as a "Boy crazy bucket of hormones"  which is a  part of her  personality that's  thankfully  dropped by the wayside most of the time.
Brittany  on the other hand, is generally  surely  and  aggressive, another  part  that will be dropped  later on in the  comic. Though she  becomes  somewhat  more ditzy and less threatening, which I am not sure is much of an improvement.
Right now however, she is an aggressive surely and moody powerhouse, that  can barely be stopped when enraged.  



The jokes also come flying fast and furious and at times it's a bit tiresome. But the  gag  with a  certain computer book is still think is funny.  Especially considering we now all have one, with tablets and all. 

Gold Digger 1 is a rollicking ride of action  and adventure. The stakes are high, the tension is build up, the jokes come fast and furious and the art is gorgeous.
No wonder this series has  gathered a small but hardcore fanbase, and has endured for well over  25  years now.

It's the start of the whole Gold Digger series  and has been reprinted several times.
In the first gold brick, in several trade paperbacks,  in  the first pocket. 
No matter which version you get, it's worth  reading. But the black and white versions with the gorgeous duotone shading, are  the best way to read it.
    

2 comments:

  1. To your comment about everything being set up very well right away, I've noticed that a lot of the time, when a writer has control of his or her own property, things seem much better thought out from the get-go, versus a corporate-owned property where the writer does "work for hire" and a lot of the setup needs to be approved by editorial and corporate and whoever else. When you have no one to answer to, you can come up with an entire backstory and just run with it without fear of dictated changes or characters being borrowed by another title or plans being derailed by a crossover.

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    1. Well yeahm but Y was referring to the Image Comics approach where comics such as Cyberforce, Wildcats, and Youngblood threw all kinds of characters and established situations at the reader and then expected them to be interested or care about all this. Without stopping to explain or develop their characters further.
      Youngblood was especially bad at this.
      Kiefeld threw at least 12 new characters at the readers with zero explanation or characterization.
      At the end of the first issue of Youngblood we still don't know anything about these people, beyond they are superheroes funded by the government and are famous.
      And instead of building on the characters and situations he has, he kept introducing more and more.
      The same goes for the original Cyberfoce and Wildcats.

      The dragon gets away with it, because despite the frantic action and introductions, there are still core characters.
      Dragon himself, LT Drank Darling, Alex Wylde, Overlord and the Visceous Circle.
      That is for the time being the core of the Savage Dragon comics and those characters are explored and build upon while new characters are introduced.

      The same goes for Gold Digger. Brittany, Gina, Strype, Ace and Penny is our core cast for the coming 50 issues.
      There will be alterations and new additions, but this is our core cast.

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