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[Comic Book Review] “Lady Killer” #1 Is A Gorgeous Juxtaposition

Published

9 years ago

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“Lady Killer” #1 is everything and nothing like it’s billed. It’s billed as “Betty Draper meets Hannibal.” With a very superficial glance, this is the only description anyone will see, but with a little more prodding, you’ll see that this comic is something entirely different, entirely more. It’s got the aesthetics of Betty Draper with the brutal violence of Hannibal but underneath all the blood and pearls, it’s honestly much deadlier and a lot sexier.

lady_killer_01

WRITTEN BY: Joëlle Jones, Jamie S. Rich

ART BY: Joëlle Jones

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse

PRICE: $3.50

RELEASE: January 7, 2015

We open up on this first issue just as Josie (posed as an Avon Lady) swings her hips right into her target’s home just before bleeding the victim out on the kitchen floor. It’s a great opener with lots of personality and a zero-sixty tone. For the rest of the comic we see her juggle the tasks of managing her little family home, keeping up with her two kids, cooking, preparing for her husband, keeping her grouchy mother-in-law at bay and answering to her boss at all hours with his fatal requests. And although her interactions with her boss aren’t voluntary or desired, she seems to take on each new hit with style and ease.

Jones and Rich create a dark and gritty, glamorously unglamorous life in which hit-woman housewife, Josie Schuller, accomplishes her motherly duties with one hand while cleaning the blood out of her skirt with the other. This first issue offers us a lot in terms of style and wit. The substance in this issue is a subtle shift between decadence and nuance. It wants to reveal nothing but the bare facts and I think that was a brilliant choice. Josie is a beautiful, seemingly typical (if not a bit of an overachiever), 1960s housewife with a secret side job as a killer-for-hire. She’s got a doofy husband and a crazy overbearing mother-in-law. She’s a bit prudish unless she is knifing someone in the chest. These are the bare minimum facts and this is all we are told in the first issue, but the art more than makes up for it. More specifically, the murder that takes up more than two full pages of silent panels totally makes up for it.

Even if I wanted to, it would be hard to give this comic a negative review simply because of the art. The gorgeous 60s aesthetic, the Silver-Age comics’ style and brightly dimmed colors mixed with sexy, curvy hips, and fatal grins. All of this tossed in with inkblots and ink spatters, terrifyingly high-arching eyebrows, and horrified screams accompanied by sprays of blood, this comic could be wordless and I’d be profoundly engaged in each issue.

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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

1 day ago

on

April 18, 2024

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Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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