Girls is a book that subverts expectations. Of course, it would be hard to expect what Girls has to offer, which is an unusual horror and suspense tale wherein the "monsters" are a flock of silent naked girls. It is pretty much completely unlike the Luna Brothers' debut book Ultra, and it is not the naked girly book that the covers would suggest. It sounds like a great premise for porn, but in fact, The Luna Brothers infuse the perfect female forms of the murderous girls of the book with a sinister aspect, and titillation quickly fades in favor of a sense of "what the hell?" Girls is a book that is unpredictable, and that, along with the Lunas' artwork, is the strongest recommendation in its favor. The characters could be stronger, as many of them are one-note or just plain unlikable, but they're solid enough to invest some interest in, and the constant bizarre turns of the plot and the sense of having no idea where things are going is enough to keep the reader invested.
Horror is not easy to do in comics. Part of the reason for that is that you need to control the pacing, to build suspense, and doing that can mean audience boredom. The Luna Brothers may have found the perfect way to hang onto the audience while they build mystery, and that is to feature an unusual monster: the hot naked girl. It sounds ludicrous that the villains of this story are a pack of naked girls, but it works. When first we see the girl, she is the strange element to a fairly mundane day of a man whose troubles with women have turned him more than a little misogynistic. This mysterious naked girl quickly becomes a pack, though, and her lack of any dialogue gives her and her "sisters" a very creepy vibe. When they launch into a violent attack, like a flock of wild animals, it's legitimately scary, and the revelation of what motivates them is both chilling and compelling, and one of the examples of the "what's going to happen next?" factor that continues to escalate as Girls rolls on.
On top of one of the most bizarre premises I've seen for a horror comic, Girls also has a strange sort of pacing that seems like it shouldn't work... but it does. Even as this first trade paperback concludes, the shape of the story is still very nebulous, the characters still fairly roughly defined. However, each issue provides a satisfying read and another surprising reveal, and that's enough to give me faith that the overall story, when all is said and done, will be something worthwhile. Certainly even without that element of faith, the books are very readable on an issue-by-issue basis. The Lunas provide answers in much the same way a show like Lost or X-Files does, answering some questions and raising more of them at the same time. It's an interesting answer, the kind of thing you'd get on Lost or X-Files, as it provides answers but raises even more questions at the same time.
There's a nice escalation in terms of the scale of events as Girls goes along. I'll be honest, my impression is still that the story starts a little slow, spending a lot of time convincing us that the guys are jerks, only for that characterization to become more or less irrelevant when the shit hits the fan, but I can't argue with the way the threat is introduced and keeps ramping up. The story goes from one mysterious girl to dozens of violent girls to a phenomenon that encompasses the entire city, and with each reveal, there's a sense that the worst is yet to come.
The Luna Brothers do a flat-shaded, animated "cel" look that is not completely unique, but certainly unusual, in comics. The absurdity of the situation in the bar, the sex appeal of the girls that Ethan is panting over and the mundane, believable nature of the settings all come to life in the artwork. The Lunas also create more and more unusual visuals, from giant sperm to invisible force fields, and each of these phenomena fits in nicely with the more mundane world that they've created. The art is fairly light on details and even backgrounds, but it has a slick look and a focus on the important features that makes it quite readable nonetheless.
There's a certain worry with any story like this, as the mysteries can start to become less intriguing and more frustrating as the truth gets strung further and further along. Fortunately, for me at least, the Luna Brothers are walking on the right side of the balance between providing enjoyable single issue chunks and an intriguing overall story. I walk away from each issue of Girls with the same two thoughts: "Whoa, that was weird" and "I wonder what's gonna happen next?" Those who expected Girls to resemble Ultra, the Luna Brothers' first offering, in any real way, should know that by now, these comics are completely different animals. Ultra had a Sex and the City meets superheroes vibe. Girls is like what you might get if you had John Carpenter and John Waters collaborating on a movie.
