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KILLER PRINCESSES #2
Recommended (8/10)
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Oni Press
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Lea Hernandez
Editor: James Lucas Jones
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
It's safe to say my reaction to the first issue of Killer Princesses was rather lukewarm. However, I usually enjoy the work of both creators -- Simone and Hernandez -- so I honestly didn't know what to expect from the second issue. Well, I'm pleased to find that their collaboration is much more fine-tuned. The script and art seem much more in synch, and there's a greater clarity in the storytelling.
After paying a visit to rather baudy ex-mobster/federal witness, the three Killer Princesses -- Faith, Hope and Charity -- head back to class at the university and the care of "Mother," the dorm matron at the Sorority. A new "pledge" prepares to qualify for acceptance, and the three girls get a new assignment at a posh engagement party that turns out to be not at all what the three sexy, ditzy and resourceful assassins expected.
Hernandez's art is much more focused in this second issue. The action flows more smoothly, and the title characters' personalities come shining through thanks to the artist's simple but emotive facial style. One image that was particularly striking was the splash featuring Faith and the X-ray representations of what was being done to a lowlife who really had it coming.
The darkness of Simone's script continues to impress. Once again, she opens with a chilling but intelligent examination of real-world violence, letting her readers know immediately that there's more to this book than baudy humor and slapstick, cartoonish action. Mind you, that stuff is there as well, and it's a load of fun. I found the raunchiness of the three girls to be particularly amusing; that Simone is a dirty-minded one, she is.
After reading the first issue, I was put off by the title characters' ditzy nature. It didn't really jibe with the sharpness that would be required of women in their line of work. But I began to see the appeal of the Valley Girl vibe in this issue. I saw Faith, Hope and Charity not as stupid, but as innocent, albeit in their own twisted way. That innocence -- contrasted with the violence and darkness of the story -- achieves an unsettling but entertaining effect.
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