Does this special ops comic book still hold enough weight to be worthwhile?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

“BUDDY SYSTEM”

Hiding from Russian authorities, Switchfoot and Fiddler trek through the ice of Northern Siberia to recover a fallen satellite piece. Meanwhile Weatherman and Bookstore are on a recon mission in Afghanistan, and what they see has ominous implications for the near future.

What we get from this outing is a layered experience in two very different corners of the world.  The narrative focuses in on specific groupings that, unbeknownst to the players, actually help move the overall arc of the series forward.  To the team’s benefit they establish credit with their audience by delivering a good enough rapport between the primary characters in order to sell the authenticity of this jaunt.  And for the most part this works but there were some stumbles along the way.

The script handles itself well as the scribe, Nathan Edmondson, steers the ship toward some high level stuff in another territory.  A lot of what’s covered here focuses in on the growing pains associated with these pairings and because of that fact we’re left with a decent amount of exposition.  That may sound like a positive but the dialogue is not always up to task.  That’s just to say that for the most part the author does a splendid job hitting the story beats but some of the lines come off robotic.  Which was problematic especially considering that these sequences were serious ones to be sure.

The art by Mitch Gerads, to me, is the strongest point of this entry.  The minimalist background design complements detailed but stiff characters no matter what location they’re currently trekking through.  The combination  yields a visually catchy rendition of the modern world that’s sure to engross readers from the first page to the final panel.  In short: the illustrations worked exceptionally well.

The Activity #15 is good outing that focuses in on four primary characters.  And despite some wonky moments therein the creative team succeeds in delivering a worthwhile yarn, which earns a recommendation.

3.5/5