REVIEW: Lady Killer #4

STORY BY:Â Joelle Jones, Jamie S. Rich
ART BY:Â Joelle Jones
PUBLISHER:Â Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: 04/01/2015

We are back with the fourth installment of JoÃ«lle Jones and Jamie S. Rich’s Desperate Murdering Housewife series.

Josie is no in trouble with her boss after failing to complete her job. Who hasn’t been in the position before? In Josie’s case this means being run off the road and threatened at gunpoint. However thanks to a lucky bystanders, Josie lives to plan a way out her predicament, trying to save the target, her morals and most importantly, her family.

This issue is another action packed issue. Â With all the action it would have been easy for the writers to focus on that, but what they have done is interlaced the action pieces with a couple of nicely paced normal life interludes. These include the conversation with the local busy body, under the presumption of neighbourhood watch, to the trip to the Chinese restaurant with the ballerina girls. Anyone who has kids will smile at their talking at the same time and whether it’s Jones or Rich who scripts the book (both are listed as writer), they have captured the minor chaos of taking kids to their hobby. The story flows well with an attention to detail, the switching of shoes for example, and with the introduction of a couple of cohorts, we can see how just maybe, Josie can escape her situation. The conclusion of the cliff hanger may start out a tad convenient, but it does go to show how ruthless Peck can be.

The art, by Jones is as sumptuous as previous issues, the highlights for me are the expressions on the characters face, Josie at the loss of her heel is just one great example. As I may have mentioned before, Jones art captures the feel of the era brilliantly, with her art consistent across areas such as cars and fashion. Â The Â pace of the book may have been a challenge, a car chase, sedate scenes, a restaurant, a dominatrix to name a few, but the quality of the work never suffers, regardless of the number of panels or dialogue. A quick nod to Laura Allred whose colour choices really help convey the perils Josie finds herself in, the use of oranges, red and pinks used for the car confrontation adds to the tension of the scene, before moving to the complete opposite with the number of colours used in the restaurant.

So, we have quite a bit going in this penultimate chapter. This book carries on both in story and quality of the previous issues, and I for one, am enjoying the ride.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

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