Going to the Chapel #1 is published by Action Lab Entertainment under their Danger Zone imprint. It is written and created by David Pepose with art by Gavin Guidry and colors by Elizabeth Kramer.
David Pepose is a favorite creator of mine. I’ve had the opportunity to interview him a few times and I absolutely love Spencer & Locke (if you haven’t read it, HIGHLY recommend). I’ve been waiting for Going to the Chapel #1 since April and I’m so happy it’s finally here. Best of all, it’s lived up to its promise of Die Hard meets Arrested Development while also being a rom com.
Emily Anderson is getting married. She’s getting married to a very kind, very smart architect named Jesse Moore and her rich CEO father is throwing an extravagant ceremony. Even with the encouragement of her sister, Lucy, Emily is nervous. This whole thing feels like a train wreck about to happen and just when it comes time for Emily to decide if she’s going to really say “I do”, a gang of crooks in Elvis masks burst in. None other than the Bad Elvis Gang. Now the wedding party is trapped inside while the sheriff surrounds the chapel outside. Things seem bad, but this might be exactly what not just Emily, but several others need to discover the true meaning of love.
First off, the Bad Elvis Gang is fantastic. A bunch of stereotypically, well-dressed, mob style guys wearing different Elvis masks and doing Elvis impressions? Amazing. All we really know about them though is that they’re notorious and the gang consists of four men: Vegas, Motown, Romero, and Tom – the leader. As cool as they are, Grandma Harriet is probably going to be my favorite character, she definitely is so far, especially after her wedding advice to Emily which was that monogamy is “overrated” and “have a side piece ready”. She also apparently served in Vietnam so this hostage situation is probably not going to go the way the Bad Elvis Gang thinks. No one ever expects the little old lady to kick some ass.
Even though she isn’t my favorite character so far, I still like Emily a lot. I like that she’s the one getting cold feet when we usually only see that on the male’s side. Women get scared too y’all. Speaking of women being scared, she may fear commitment, but she isn’t afraid of an Elvis-mask wearing group of thieves. Despite being whisked away and isolated, she doesn’t start crying or freaking out. Granted, things take another unexpected turn, but still, she didn’t know that would happen at the time and she was still calm in a hostage situation so kudos.
There’s a lot of characters in this story and David Pepose is giving warranted attention to them all. Obviously Emily is our main focus, but we still hear everyone else and see what’s happening with them. It doesn’t feel like tunnel vision focused on Emily. Gavin Guidry’s art and Elizabeth Kramer’s colors are fantastic for this story and the whole style of it. And I just love those Elvis masks.
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
This debut issue is a great start to what will clearly be a great series, so make sure you pick up Going to the Chapel #1 from your local comic shop!
Happy reading!
