RECOMMENDED: "Lady Killer" #1 by Jones & Rich

- by Señor Editor, 23 January 2015

Here’s something you didn’t know about: “Lady Killer” is 2015’s first contender for best new series, and the best comic to come out this year so far. Issue one of the Dark Horse miniseries by Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich is not only stylish and great to look at, it also has some of the best writing you could find in a comic.

Click to enlarge!

This issue came out on January 7th, but I only got around to reading it a few hours ago. So excuse the lateness, but if this is the first time you hear about this book, then you only have two weeks to wait for #2. This is very good news for you!

“Lady Killer” is a story about a 1960s perfect housewife and equally perfect serial killer, Josie Schuller. We first meet Josie when she’s peddling Avon to a reluctant “customer”, Doris Roman. Except she isn’t really there to sell cosmetics, she’s doing a hit on the woman. When an attempt to poison Roman fails, Josie plunges a kitchen knife into the lady’s heart after a bit of a struggle. The gory, realistic execution scene contrasts beautifully with the pastel colors of the swingin’ sixties.

After the job, Josie gets home in time to make dinner for her family. She lives with her husband, two daughters, a dog and her awful German stepmother. None of them are aware of her double life, though the nosy stepmother might soon be onto something. Another person in Josie’s life is Peck, the man who gets her the jobs.

Secret's out, Romanov.

What stands out about Josie, and what makes the character much different than your average femme fatale, is that she really does seem to be the perfect housewife. It doesn’t seem to be an act at all – she is very proper, well-mannered and seems to genuinely enjoy taking care of her house and family. This is where a lot of the humor comes from, but it doesn’t feel overdone. It’s not a “Ha Ha, look at this: a housewife who murders people!” comic. A bad comic would probably be just that, but this is much more subtle, and Jones’ and Rich’s fantastic writing offers plenty besides just the premise. The dialogues are tight, the characters are expressive and well-rounded, never just clichés.

Josie and the family. All images in this article are by Jones and Allred and © Dark Horse Comics.

Good writing and an interesting story is already a lot to like, but the art of “Lady Killer” is just amazing. Co-writer Joëlle Jones is the artist of the book, and I absolutely love her pencils here. The art style is very clean and it’s easy to see that Jones can make anything look great. The faces show emotion, the action scenes are dynamic, the layouts work beautifully, and the architecture looks perfect. Look at that top left panel on the second image in this article. The one where we get a look down, through the roof, at Josie coming for Romanov from the other room? That’s awesome. The art here tells as much story as the writing, and that only happens in really good comics.

Action!

Jones’ artwork kicks ass, but it kicks it even harder thanks to Laura Allred’s superb coloring. The bright, vibrant pastels are a great fit for the book’s theme and really help sell the 1960’s setting. You couldn’t ask for a better art team here.

Like Ghostbusters taught us, people named "Peck" are kind of terrible.

All in all, “Lady Killer” is one hell of a comic. This is going to be a five issue miniseries, but I already want more than that. I’m REALLY looking forward to the next issues. Props to Jones, Rich and Allred for making the first comic that really had me immediately hooked in 2015. Get it. Buy it. Buy two copies, three copies, four or more. Give some of them to friends and family! Have some extra copies for yourself, in case you drop food on your copy (don’t eat while reading comics, you horrible person). But get it. I recommend it, and I know best.

 
Sooo… DID you get it? How many copies? How many are extras for yourself? Tell us in the comments section below.

Tagged: comics, Reviews, RECOMMENDED.

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