Review - The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1

"The criminal mind is a confusing thing. What we need to focus on is wrapping this up quickly and quietly. I promised your mom we'd be home in 10 minutes."

The family dynamic is consistent on only one thing: that it's called a family dynamic. Families vary in how they interact within said family, largely owing to how the parents were raised when they were kids. Not many families can say though that they have to contend with being a superhero, which adds another layer of intricacy to the family dynamic. That intricacy is on full display in The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 from Action Lab Entertainment. The issue is written by DeWayne Feenstra, illustrated by Axur Eneas, colored by Juan Pablo Riebeling and lettered by Adam Wollet.

As Aero-Girl, Jacqueline Mackenzie is the protector of Foxbay. As the sidekick to Battle Jack, her father, her life couldn’t be any better; but tragedy is just around the corner! Will she be ready to defend her city against the evil of Dr. Chimera and his army of AniMen? Can Aero-Girl be the hero she (and her father) always dreamed of being?

From the outset, The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 feels like an episode that would be the start of a series based on The Incredibles. Feenstra's portrayal of the relationship between Jacqueline and her father is one filled with love and admiration, which helps to play into the reveal at the end. Much of the issue in fact focuses on defining the parent-child love shared by the two of them, only to use it as a mechanism for adding gravity to the final page. Because of Feenstra's approach, the majority of the dialogue acts as narrative, filling the reader in on why Jacqueline and her father do the job they do, day in and day out. As far as superhero stories go, Feenstra has done a pretty great job of making The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 accessible to readers of all-ages as well, despite the somewhat nefarious nature of Dr. Chimera.

The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 is infused with artwork by Eneas that's simple, yet demonstrates exaggerated physiques. Characters present a very cartoonish appearance that reminds the reader that despite the high-stake nature of the confrontation, the book won't get too mature in displaying combat. Character physiology is almost childish in presentation, which undersells the quality of work Eneas put into illustrating the book. Battle Jack looks very similar to Mr. Incredible himself, whereas Jacqueline looks like a character you would expect from a Cartoon Network show. Riebeling's colors are fairly dark throughout and even though they manage to display some vividness at points, it's an odd choice to go darker in a book such as this.

The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 is a book that takes offers a dramatic view of a seemingly innocuous relationship between father and daughter. That view gains the drama in the fact that the two family members are superheroes, but the complexity does make for compelling reading. Feenstra's script is pretty evenly paced and hits all the right notes for the tale it's trying to tell. Eneas' illustrations are very approachable by readers of all ages. The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 is an all-ages comic that presents the complexities of being a father (and daughter) superhero masked by the sheer joy of being superheroes.

The Adventures of Aero-Girl #1 is in stores now.