Dangerous people fear only down-time.

The Activity Volume 1Swift shot:  Ever wonder how Delta Force gets their Intel?  Wonder who they silently curse under their breaths as they lay down suppressive fire to move to their next objective?  The Army Intelligence Support Activity, or The Activity, are the real-life James . . . and Jane Bonds who continuously put their lives on the line to gather mission critical intelligence and get the bad guys to keep us all safe at night.

The Activity Volume 1 encompasses five issues from the series, following the ISA from Mexico City to Rayong, Thailand as they have acquired a new team member, a soldier from Civil Affairs, who earns the call-sign Fiddler.  Through Fiddler’s initiation, writer Nate Edmondson builds a non-linear exposition to the characters.  He skips boring back-stories and gets right into the action, as he shows the brutal nature of being in the ISA.  It isn’t a place for the timid.  Only inventive scoundrels and strong-willed maniacs who will never know glory need apply.

The ISA crew is made up of Weatherman, Speakeasy, Switchfoot, Bookstore and the aforementioned Fiddler.  Each of the characters provides a subtle specialty and connects the reader to the mission in unique ways.  And, unlike many action books, these characters are far from one-dimensional, especially the ladies.  I enjoyed that, because even controversial political issues about women in combat were exposed for discussion.  That is developed a bit more in Volume 2 as well.

So, with a black-ops blank check, these crazies perform surgical operations all over the planet!  Or, maybe that is the plan.  Fortunately for us readers, the plans rarely “come together.”  The team fails an awful lot in their missions, but there isn’t much time to dwell as their pace never slows down.   And mission accomplishment is different for Tier-One troops.  Still, no one team is this unlucky; there is something else at play . . . a leak. Nate managed to keep readers intrigued and wanting to read Volume 2 even though the spy story involved leaks.

With Mitch Gerards illustrating the dark glossy panels, the book itself is sleek and sexy.  There are interesting uses of what I must call camera angles, because, again, I am a film nerd.  The ferocity of what these characters faces is hard-hitting and will stick with you page by page.

Nate tells the story through the dialog between the characters, and here is a pro-tip for you: go to the back of the book. There is a glossary for non operators to understand all the military jargon.  No shame if you need to flip back there occasionally to understand just what the hell they are saying sometimes.  Also, it helps if you speak Spanish, as I don’t, and some of the panels are sans translation.  But it does give it a certain sense of authenticity, perhaps.

Certainly there is room to develop the characters further, but that is one of my prime gripes with comics…they are too short, and they don’t really have the fluid action I prefer in film.  Still, getting the whole Volume of the first five issues was a bit like getting one solid graphic novel.  While there isn’t a clear beginning, middle or end, each Volume (I will review Volume 2 next week) does come to a satisfying conclusion.  And by satisfying, I mean, you’ll want to keep reading these books!

“Just another day.” – Francis Doyle, AKA Speakeasy.

Be sure and follow @TheActivity on twitter and check out their web site: WarfareWithoutWarning.com