Dakota North #5

 The groundbreaking series from 1986-87 comes to a close after only 5 issues. Dakota reunites with her brother, but they both find themselves in the clutches of a deranged sheik who uses falcons are weapons. Though the ins and outs of this caper (beginning all the way in issue #1 with her first client, a besieged fashion designer) are finally revealed, this issue ends with more questions than answers such as:

• What happened to Ricky's girlfriend, the former teenaged assassin?
• Did Luke the designer end up with his loyal assistant who pined for him the entire series?
• and did Dakota's father get killed or did his new love just happen to be holding a revolver?

    Dakota North pops up in various other titles over the next 3 decades but to my knowledge, her backstory is secondary to the title's star in which she is guesting. These 5 issues have never been collected in trade form (to my knowledge) so the chance of any treasury collecting her minor roles is slim to none. So I guess I'll have to wiki-read up on her exploits. 

    If you take away the ending, issue #5 maintained the same amount of quality, humor, and action that filled the previous 4. I'm not sure who to blame for the ending. I honestly think co-creators Martha Thomases and Tony Salmons intended for this series to go longer than it did. (If fact, at the end of this issue, there is an ad for subscribing to Marvel Comics and Dakota North is listed as one of the titles available for subscription.) So when the powers that be at Marvel informed them of the sudden cancellation, they had to scramble to tie up the loose ends. But as I said, the ending left me with more questions. 

(If any of my readers can give me some more info on Dakota North or recommend any other titles to keep up with her exploits, please feel free to leave me a comment.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Dakota North #4

After receiving a tip from her offices in Paris, Dakota North treks to the City of Lights in hopes of saving her brother. But her brother and new 'girlfriend,' an teenaged assassin/ fashion model have moved on to Switzerland in order to dodge another onlsaught of hired killers. Will Dakota finally reach Ricky before it's too late? Has Ricky's new girlfriend actually chosen love over duty? There's only one issue left to answer all these questions.

    With some new baddies, the level of thrilling action got bigger and badder. This issue wasn't quite as funny as the previous three but that's okay. I don't expect a series like this to always be a laugh riot. That doesn't mean this issue wasn't a fun ride. 

   With a demented shiek and his lethal throng of killer falcons, a sniper attack in an art musuem, a train car that turns into an actual car, and killer fashion models, this is the type of cat-and-mouse thriller I think editor Jim Shooter and writer/co-creator Martha Thomases were originally aiming for. C'mon Marvel, give this series another chance- it so deserves it!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Dakota North #3

 

Unbeknownst to young Ricky North, he's in possession of a gold pen that contains a deadly toxin. With the item in his pocket, he's now become the target of some very bad people- the very same ones that Ricky's sister Dakota is busy keeping her fashion designer client Luke safe from. That's going to be hard to do as Luke's just been kidnapped. Without big sis in the picture, Ricky hasn't got a chance. Good thing the assassin marked to take him down has just fallen in love with the young man and whisked him away to Paris!

    With Dakota playing bodyguard and Ricky playing the fool, I just don't understand why this series didn't take off. I know I am in part to blame as I had the chance to read this series when I was in 5th grade and I passed. But I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as this is more of a grown-up comic. 

    There's no swears or nudity. But the level of humor is more aimed at the 16-29 crowd. Plus, with references to fashion designers, politicians, and obscure authors, I am sure that no matter how much older I was for my age, most of this series would have gone directly over my head.

   Hopefully, Marvel will one day give the North siblings another chance because with their lack of superpowers and twisted senses of humor, they are a breath of fresh air in a medium that is stagnant with mutants, vigilantes, and cosmic gods.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Dakota North #2

   Dakota's second assignment is to protect an old CIA friend of her father's named Cooper. Coop just wrote a damning tell-all about his time as a spook. While he goes on a day-long media junket, it's up to Dakota to keep him alive. But Coop's agent has accidentally let slip his entire itinerary, so it's not going to be easy for the red-headed PI/ bodyguard.

    Issue 2 was an exciting look at a day in the life of Dakota North. Snipers, car chases, and the David Letterman show! It was like reading a story of my life!

   The twist to this issue isn't the knowledge that Cooper has about the CIA that has assassins on his tail but a solid gold pen that contains a deadly poison. This toxin is so potent, just what's in the writing instrument could wipe out a couple city blocks. Good thing Coop pawned it off on Dakota's baby brother Ricky in a poker game.

   Another great issue with Ricky again being the star. I think Marvel missed a perfect chance to create a series just about him. For example, when Coop is tricking Ricky into the card game, Ricky's dad says 'You're too young to gamble.' to which the lad replies 'I can cover $50.' I was laughing so hard. Great dialogue by writer/ co-creator Martha Thomases.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Dakota North #1

  A little personal history- when I was in 5th grade, I had to write a love letter valentine to a fictional character. Now if I thought really long and hard about it, I'd probably have written the letter to Princess Leia. But I had just gotten back from the dentist and I had to get the assignment turned in quick if I wanted to play during recess. On the spot, I chose the closest thing I had on hand- a copy of Dakota North #1.

   How I got the book is beyond me. I'm thinking I got the book as a prize from my dentist. But, he only carried Archie and Harvey Comics. Maybe I had a real bad cavity and as a reward my mom took me to the comic book store before going back to school. Anyways, I had the comic book in my backpack and so I used it to craft my letter.

    Flash forward 24-years later and I still had never read Dakota North #1. Over time, I lost that issue and actually forgot about the bodyguard/ private investigator. Then a year ago, while in vacation in the Smoky Mountains, I was reading a trade paperback collection of New Avengers titles. Low and behold, somebody was using the services of one Dakota North for a case.

   Remembering that Valentine's Day assignment and feeling a little guilty having never read the book, I made it my mission to find the comic and give it the read it properly deserved. Over the course of a few months I found the entire series of Dakota North. It wasn't that very hard as only 5 issues were published. (Jump ahead another year and I had forgotten I had the complete series until it was time to take another trek up those same Smoky Mountains. Well, I decided not to procrastinate any further!)

   Dakota North is considered the 2nd to last nail in Marvel editor Jim Shooter's coffin at the House of Ideas. Lots of time and money was spent on this series. With it's contemporary style and characters drafted in real life fashions, Dakota was a critical success. Sadly, it was a huge flop financially.

    Comics featuring women wasn't unheard of in 1986 when Dakota #1 was published. But those titles didn't find much commercial success and it was even harder for an entirely all-new character to get any love from fans of the Big Two publishers- especially if the character had zero super powers. But, Shooter was a man who could obviously see the future and he took a gamble on the feisty redhead. Sadly, the visionary editor bet heavily on red about 30 years too soon.

    In this premiere issue, North is hired to protect an up-and-coming designer whose been getting threats over his revolutionary new style. Posing as a model, North keeps a close eye on her client and intercepts several deadly attacks aimed at him. Normally, just risking your neck to save the life of a total stranger (albeit a payer customer HOPEFULLY) would be enough stress in anyone's life. But Dakota's world is going to get a little more hectic when her baby brother, teenage rebel Ricky North moves in!

   Created by writer Martha Thomases and artist Tony Salmons, Dakota North #1 wasn't half bad. Salmons art style looks like a series of sketches you'd see a fashion designer create for the new fall line. It was outstanding but just a little too highbrow for the Marvel Universe of 1986.

    The storyline so far is interesting as are the characters. They do still have some rough edges to them but hey it's the first issue: give it time! The star of the show isn't Dakota, however; it's her brother Ricky. He's rude, crude, and is given all of the funniest lines. I hope to see more of him in the remaining 4 issues of the regular series turned unfairly into a limited series without any warning (more on that in my review of issue #4 and 5!)

   It took me a quarter of a decade to read this issue, but it was worth the wait. I'm hooked on Dakota North and I'm not so embarrassed to have written that love letter to her sight unseen. I just hope she don't let me down in the next issue.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.