Advance Review: Noir Burlesque (HC)

As with many people, my first introduction to Enrico Marini was the fabulous Batman: The Dark Prince Charming two parter, which meshed the noir of Batman: the Animated Series with a more adult theme; who can forget Harley in thigh highs? Fast forward a few months and the tease, appropriately, for this book, started hitting Twitter. From that point on, I was on tenterhooks waiting for this book. Thanks to the good people at Titan Comics imprint Hard Case Crime, and the translation talents of Dan Christensen, Noir Burlesque finally gets a “published in English” release.

A robbery gone bad leaves Slick up to his fedora in debt to one the biggest gangsters in town. Think of Han Solo dumping spice when smuggling for Jabba the Hutt and you get an idea of the sort of trouble Slick is in. Of course, there is a way out; take on a big gig and all debts are cancelled. Complicating things is Caprice; Slicks babe of an ex who is now entrenched as the big bad’s moll. It has to be said, that if the course of true love never runs smooth, then throwing in a bunch of double dealing, double crossing gangsters is not going to make the trip any easier. Can Slick survive his job, his heart and his girl or is one those elements going to get him killed?

Enrico Marini pulls triple duty as creator, writer and artist. Taking the writing first, Marini sets the gumshoe noir elements out from the get go. Could it be seen as cheesy? Yes it could. It could also be described as perfect for the Noir era that the book is clearly set in. There is also a shed load of different problems for Slick to deal with. Marini lays it on pretty thick, with coincidences and elements tying into each over to create a myriad of a web entangling the city’s underworld. With the era of the writing, there are aspects of the dialogue that could offend in todays sensibilities in both usage and tone. Personally, I love that Marini is keeping things on point for the realism of the book, serving as it does to embed the gangster style and world view very well.

As good as the writing is, people will flock to this book for the art, which is simply put, gorgeous from cover to cover! Marini’s art is all square jawed heroes, brick house goons, snivelling toads and curvy, curvy women! The book in part is set around a burlesque club, so there are girls and one girl in particular, that will catch the eye. Marini explores the club scene well, with the dances coming off sensual, yet surprisingly not overly sexual; that latter part comes way later in the book. Caprice oozes charm and sexiness, dressed or undressed of a mixture both or either! The action scenes; there are plenty, carry motive and motion well. Marini looks to emphasise Caprice with the use of red highlights when ever she is around, which contrasts strikingly from the rest of the greyscale coloring.

I love this book, there is no getting away from that; Marini ticks all the boxes, great writing coupled with gorgeous art with seams and seams of thigh high stockings. What’s not to love?

Writing; 5 Stars

Art & Colors; 5 Stars

Overall; 5 Stars

Written by; Enrico Marini
Art by; Enrico Marini
Translation by; Don Christensen
Published by; Hard Case Crime / Titan Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network