Tweet
Lady Killer 2 #3
Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: November 16th, 2016.
Written And Illustrated by: Joelle Jones
Purchase From Amazon
Josie Schuller seems quite pleased with the results that have taken place since bringing old Irving on board to help her get rid of the people she kills for a living. Not only does he prove to be very good at handling the 'clean up' but she enjoys hanging out with the guy as well. Splitting off from Mr. Hawley and his 'union' of killers to do her own thing seems to suit Josie just fine, even if, as she notes, the quality of the clientele is a step down from what she's been used to in the past. But all things in due time.
In the Schuller household, it's time to prepare for Christmas. Josie and her two girls decorate the tree. When Uncle Irving shows up, invited over for dinner, Mother Schuller immediately recognizes the old man. She's not happy about his presence in the home. She throws glass ornaments at him and screams at him in German that he is not welcome. She tries to attack him with a cleaver but things settle down once a clearly inebriated Gene comes home from work. He takes Irving into the garage for a beer when Mother Schuller threatens to tell Gene and the cops all about her extracurricular activities if she doesn't get Irving out of the house immediately. She politely gets Irving out of the place, but he denies knowing Josie's mother-in-law.
When Gene passes out in the living room later that night, Mother Schuller brings Josie into her room and explains to her how and why she knows Irving. During the Second World War in her native Germany she worked as a civil service officer and was occasionally called on to investigate special cases. Irving was one such cases, suspected by the German government of helping forge documents to allow people who wanted to escape safe passage out of the country. Frau Schuller did her duty, she got very close to 'Doctor Reinhardt' - maybe too close - and then she discovered the truth.
It probably won't come as much of a surprise to readers paying attention that there's something sordid in Irving's past but you probably won't see this coming! By tying in his storyline to that of Mother Schuller, Jones is able to add yet another layer of bizarre intrigue to the series, keeping it interesting and surprising where in the hands of someone less talented it could potentially get formulaic. That hasn't happened yet, and given her track record, it probably won't. This remains a really enjoyable read, a nice change of pace from a lot of the other books on the racks. We get a great mix of humor and strong, shocking gore but so too do we get some interesting elements of family drama thrown into the mix. The fact that it's all done with such a keen eye towards period detail is another plus, as everything from the fashions to the furniture to the speech mannerisms and the way in which Josie appears to 'play her role' as the typical American housewife of the era all really shine.
Gorgeous art. An engaging and genuinely twisted story. Loads of impressive creativity. Fantastic panel layouts. Fantastic coloring (courtesy of Michelle Madsen). Lady Killer has it all - don't miss out.