Comic Review - Jennifer Blood #17

            Slow day at the comic shop this week as the only two “regular” comics that I picked up were ones that I had already reviewed (Battle Beasts #3 and KISS #4) so I had to turn my attention elsewhere.  Between the DC zero issues and the madness that is Marvel gearing up to do their “relaunch that is not a relaunch” it may be harder to spot comics from the smaller publishers on your comic shelf.  Hell, even proven winners Like Top Cow get very little billing in my local shop, which sucks because I am slowly finding out that they have a much more superior product than most people realize. 

            Regardless, this week I decided to go with a comic that has already been established for (if they stuck to a monthly schedule) about a year and a half.  This comic comes from the mind of Garth Ennis (even though he did not write this issue, which I did not find out until I got it home as the plastic sleeve had his name on it) and is published by Dynamite (the home of your favorite pulp characters like The Shadow and The Green Hornet.  If you have not guessed by now, I am reviewing Jennifer Blood #17 by Al Ewing and Kewber Baal.

Cover:

            The cover by Tim Bradstreet comes in two forms.  You can get the regular cover (pictured), that looks like it has a tear in the page around the woman’s torso and features, what I can only assume, are images of past covers.  If your comic shop is willing to do whatever Dynamite asks to fulfill its retailer incentive requirement, you can instead get the more “mature” cover.  This is basically the same figure but instead of that rip showing previous covers, you get a shot of side-boob instead.  I know, risqué.  Regardless of which cover you choose (if you have a choice) they are both masterfully done.  The cover with the rip actually makes more sense based on the fact that the story is probably about 75% flashback, but they are both beautiful illustrations.  This fits right in with the Dynamite method of cover creations where they aim for singular iconic shots of characters as opposed to any kind of storytelling or group shots.  Sure, this has nothing to do with the story, as the character is not actually doing anything and there is no background, but Bradstreet just keeps getting better and better with every cover I see of his. 

9/10 – One point is knocked off for the “house style” of single iconic images that Bradstreet had to work with, but this cover is truly a work of art.

Story:

            This story, as previously stated, deals a lot in flashbacks, which is fine, something that I don’t mind seeing in comics at all.  Balancing out the flashbacks is Jennifer disposing of a body (of her husband or ex-husband, it’s not entirely clear what happened).  I have a feeling that this all went down in the last issue or two and we are just seeing the aftermath here.  That’s fine, as this comic does a decent job of filling you in on the backstory of Jennifer’s obviously failed relationship, but I kept reading, waiting to figure out what actually happened to this guy that she married. 

I got nothing.

            There was no real payoff to this story at all.  The thing is, this could have all been cleared up through a little more exposition during the quiet times when she is actually disposing of the body.  To recount the life through a series of pictures and the death through a series of text boxes would not only have been beneficial to the first time reader, but would also have created a nice juxtaposition to the life and death of that character.  Instead, I spent twenty four pages wondering what the hell happened.  What set this girl off and caused her to kill her husband?  I can actually see where a story would be in here somewhere but if I wanted to write my own, I would. 

2/10 - Nothing is actually expanded upon to the point of making this anything more than a “chapter”.  Releasing it as an actual comic is misleading.     

Art:

            Baal’s art is not bad by any stretch of the imagination.  He does a good job of making sure to work in backgrounds into the art and handles the more risqué elements with a decent amount of tact.  The most impressive thing about his art though, is the way that he handles the flashback sequences.  By putting a different border around those panels, almost one like you would find on an ornate picture frame, it gives a feeling like Jennifer is looking at and remembering a different time.  This is also helped by the fact that the colorist did a great job of coloring all of those flashbacks in sepia tones. Ultimately, the art is just adequate though.  Hell, even a superstar wouldn't be able to save the flimsy script.

5/10:  It’s ok, but nothing that would make me run out and purchase the book on a regular basis.

Overall:

3/10 – Love the Bradstreet cover, but the fact that I just kept waiting and waiting for something to actually happen, and nothing did, just makes me sorry to have spent $4 on this.  It was not worth that much by a long shot.