Written by: Daniel Hadley

Opening with the brutal murder of two elderly women and followed by the disposal of their bodies via several Tupperware containers, it’s fair to say that Lady Killers doesn’t shy away from the depiction of senseless brutality, which is fine with me as I’m quite partial to odd bits of savage bloodletting. During the earlier mentioned double homicide we learn via several narration boxes that our main character Josie, who masquerades as a pretty housewife, is actually a killer for hire working for a yet to be revealed organisation that deals in death.

After said murders, Josie returns home to host a dinner party for her husband’s boss and his trophy wife. Here we learn she is the mother of two daughters and a seemingly loving wife, her only hardship appears to be her suspicious and nosy mother in law. After hosting her husband’s ass of a boss she heads out on another assignment and the violent bloodshed continues.

The pastel colours used here are a nice touch and were a good choice to compliment the 1960’s setting. Lady Killers’ greatest strength is the art of Joelle Jones. This is a good looking comic, the art style used here was a perfect choice for the setting, the choice of colours making the violence really pop off the page. The deeps reds are a stark contrast to the soft blues, pinks and so on.

Unfortunately Lady killers fall down with its plot. I have seen this story play out so many times in so many different mediums – the killer leading a double life is pretty tried at this point. The setting really helps, but I couldn’t really get invested when I pretty much knew where the story was going from the jump. Correct me if I’m wrong but I imagine Josie is eventually going to choose her family over cold blooded murder which will have dire consequences. I may be wrong, but that’s normally how these go and even if I’m wrong Lady Killers starts in such a familiar place that I couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjá vu.

Despite rehashing an overused plot, I can recommend Lady Killers for its art style, and if you’re a fan of savagely brutal acts of vicious and bloody violence then you can’t really go wrong.