Amber Blake in Operation Dragonfly

Amber Black in Operation Butterfly

Heavy Metal Comics/Magma Comix 2021

Written by Jade Lagardère

Illustrated by Butch Guice

Inked by Butch Guice & Rick Magyar

Coloured by Dan Brown

Lettered by Gilberto Lazcano

Abandoned by her mother at the age of 5, Amber Blake was only a child when she was recruited to the Cleverland Institute, a school for gifted children, where she was promised a bright future. But predators hide in the school's administration and, on the verge of exposing them, Amber finds herself fleeing for her life from the very man who took her in. Now a top recruit of a covert agency dead-set on ending human slavery in all its forms, she's going to destroy everone who's ever hurt the people she loves.

I am a huge fan of Amber Blake’s! I love a good spy thriller and more so when we see them as students who are training to become the best they can be. It is kind of fun this way because the kids aren’t professionals yet and they are going to make mistakes in life and the real test is seeing how they overcome those mistakes and fix the problems they create. So there’s a plethora of opportunities that present themselves.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really does wonders in fleshing them out more fully as people. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we are brought to a place with Amber where we see pure drive and ambition.

I greatly appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The layers contain the characterisation, the plot twists and so much more and whether or not they work with the main arc or not they add depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved extremely well.

I absolutely adore the interior artwork here. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work we see is extraordinary. That we see backgrounds utilised as we do is sensational as they enhance and expand the moments while also working within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The faces, facial expressions and body language do wonders in furthering the characterisation that we see. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show this amazingly brilliant eye for how colour works. There really is this sensational way we see it done and how it adds depth and dimension is exceptionally well rendered.

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The ongoing story of Amber Blake is phenomenal to see. I love that this is as much a follow up to the last arc as it is a stand alone story perfect for new readers to jump into her life without feeling like you are missing anything. With some truly magnificent writing and powerful characterisation wrapped up in these brilliantly rendered interiors show some of the finest storytelling around.