Review by Booklist Review
By employing the sensibility of Quentin Tarantino to subvert the culture of Mad Men, Rich and Joelle produce a tight, visually engrossing thriller. The idea of a quiet family life set in contrast to a brutal secret world is hardly new, and this tale of a doting mother who is also a trained assassin contains its share of familiartropes: the oblivious husband, the suspicious mother-in-law, the urbane killer, the last job. But by setting these within the wholesome, naïve aesthetic of the early 1960s, Lady Killer creates a sense of crackling tension and fun. Jones' art does the heavy lifting in this regard, capturing the domestic banality with as keen an eye as she choreographs fights and car chases all rendered in angular, detailed lines and a color scheme highly evocative of the era (though much of the carnage is carried out in unnecessarily revealing clothing). The writing, meanwhile, is elegant in its dialogue and economy of action. Rich and Jones have clearly perfected a dynamic synergy in previous projects. Easy to envision as a pulse-pounding action movie.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Taking off from Mad Men-inspired interest in 1960s gender roles, this series builds a noir thriller out of crinoline skirts and Stepford Wives-style suburban domesticity. What better camouflage for a hit man-er, woman? Housewife Josie Schuller maneuvers around a clueless husband, two kids, and a suspicious mother-in-law to stab, strangle, and clobber her targets on assignment and undercover. But her managers aren't nice guys either, and she must team up with a reluctant sister-assassin to foil a hit on herself. Jones's (Helheim) color art gleefully parodies period ads and media clichés, and the elegant pizzaz she gives the violence does much of the story's heavy lifting. Josie has the eyelinered prettiness of a retro "stewardess" but with real strength, women's clothes reek of glamour and tackiness, and men's faces twist into smarmy exploiter masks. So far, the plot is fairly predictable and the characterizations unsurprising. However, a second story arc is beginning, which may reveal depths of, say, the German-speaking mother-in-law-who recognizes one of Josie's coconspirators. VERDICT An engagingly bloody popcorn-muncher for Mad Men fans and friends, high school-aged and adult, with potential for deeper satire.-MC © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
