Gold Digger Beta. The first colour Gold Digger series, created by Fred Perry.
Penny Pincer and Charlotte (her bodyguard) are about to make a major breakthrough in archaeology. Charlotte, new to the business, meekly tries to inform Penny of a potential threat, but Penny's too wrapped up. (A bad choice of words on my part?) ^_^
Cut away to the Diggers sisters, Gina and Britanny (aka Cheetah), who are driving to Penny's site on an invite. Arrival means confrontation as a large liquid organism made of silver grabs Brit. Being a werecheetah, Brit does NOT like this and screams out in pain as the silver burns down to her soul. The creature lets go and Gina aids Brit, only to have the creature attack again. It's not an attack this time, however, but a message...
Penny has somehow become the creature. Gina tries to scan her friend, but we learn that X-rays can't penetrate the reflective surface of the creature/Penny's skin. Britanny wants to make Penny feel better, so she plays Penny's favorite song on the CD player Gina built. The silver creature warps back from the headphones and melts away from a weakened Penny who is suffering from a headache (this big!!)
The creature takes over and becomes the Gina-mobile next; Penny states the reason to be that the car is inanimate (whereas she was a living organism). Brit grabs Gina and manages to outrun the creature/car. Into the secret entrance the explorers go. A warpgate of some kind takes the trio to Civ-Alpha, the city Penny found, which is four miles down.
A quick history lesson (from 1 million years back) starts as Penny tells how Alpha and Beta civilizations, phases and technologies exist. The creature is Beta. The technology here is Alpha, and the Beta creature is a side-effect of that civilization. The Alpha phase is the tangible real world we're in, and the Beta phase relates to the invisible and intangible. (That should do it.)
Penny apparently had a "key or control rod" that the Beta creature wanted; it too is a Beta product. Gina bangs heads with Penny in a brainstorming effort to figure this all out, and Charlotte (who was hiding in a crate) and Brit talk silliness. Charlotte notices Britanny's new 'do, a hidden talent that she can now manipulate thanks to her lycanthropic nature.
A series of runes come up on Penny's computer and Gina (who works well with other decrypted languages) instantly translates:
"The source of our light,our cities of life,
destined from birth to be dead.
From the place between places,
our race has seen faces
of hope which we've turned into dread."
No time for celebrations because the Beta creature comes back and steals the key. Apparently, it wants to bring over billions more of its kind to the Alpha phase. Brit (who ain't touching the silver thing, no way) and Charlotte try to stop it. A half-fight ensues, and the foursome eventually get the key back and stop the creature. Yea!
Here's a little experiment for you at home to try. ^_^ Go back into your earliest Gold Digger comic in your collection. (If none are available, then go to the comic store and get one. You won't be disappointed.) Next, look at the interior art, how it is shaded and drawn. Lastly, delve into the latest GD comic (of the original series), and notice the change that has occured over time.
Now here's the experiment: Imagine what this comic is going to look like after its ten issue run. Namely, the backgrounds. Specifically, the computer colourization (I hate Canadian spelling) of Brit's sonic-boom shoe, the texture of the Beta creature, and the cavern's myriad tunnels.
Wow.
The cover: excellent. The interior art: outstanding. The story: shaping up to be with the tops in sci-fi today. All around, a top-notch introductory book that lets everyone know who each character is, what they do, and why they do it.
My only problem might be my own fault. I think that the fact of the CD player as a weapon comes up too frequently (twice, in fact.) It's stated that Gina built it, and is shown that it works differently than Penny's computer CD player. Perhaps the headphones are the key, but I think that Gina's CD player is what will eventually stop the Betas (or slow 'em down.)
Two final things. My friend Azmo says that Brit's haircut looks like Rally Vincent's (of "Riding Bean" and "Gunsmith Cats" fame.) Page 3, panel 2. He doesn't like it. I love it, but think she'd have a really tough time seeing peripherally. Also, this issue takes place after GD #40. I haven't even read ish 39 yet, but 40 was supposed to be the wedding issue. So my question is: where in here is the wedding ring? And don't tell me that it's an obstruction because then Brit wouldn't even have hair for all of the handholds available in combat.
I'll shut up now.
(out of four.)
Gina and Penny were rivals, now they're friends. Charlotte was created by Dr. Peachbody (an evil time-travelling dog) as a weapon, Penny befriended her. Britanny is the last werecheetah; her entire clan was killed by the evil werecheetah Brendan who was also killed. Britanny is Gina's adopted sister, pretty well since birth. This issue marks the first appearance of the Beta creatures.
CNN - a world-wide news network
(NEWS - originates from North, East, West, South; just for your info) ^_^
Godzilla - a famous monster from Japanese movies
Croft - Lara Croft, star of the video games "Tomb Raider I & II"
John Wayne - famous American "western" film star
(the song on the headphones) - ???
Jello - the gelatinous treat of Jell-O, don't eat the corner pieces.
Anapuma - the hairy villain of "Dominion Tank Police" anime, spelled Annapuma
Hair-grow Darbie Dolls - Darbie=Barbie
Pandora's Box - mythology: the box that let out the world's evils, only "hope" was left
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