Lady Fight: Escalation is very much a flash fiction equivalent for the comic book medium: the stories told are brief and snappy, meant to leave readers with a more visceral response of emotion than a developed sense of plot and meaning. But I’m not sure if the book’s system works for me. Lady Fight introduces some interesting concepts and characters, but the narratives remain shallow, not giving me enough to hold onto from story to story.
There are three total tales in this issue of Lady Fight. The first is “Explosion Proof,” a small eight-page story about a female bounty hunter who’s become the hunted. There’s not much else to describe other than that. She’s out on a hit, gets caught by some guys who want to kill her, but winds up showing them whose boss.
The second story is “One Nation,” which showcases the exploits of Souverain, a vigilante soldier who defends the greater good in Afghanistan. When she’s caught by her ranking superiors, she strikes out on her own. This of the three stories is the most salient, touching upon relevant topical issues of human rights and how to handle them in a war setting.
The third is “Card Shark,” a light-hearted story about a feminine hero named Category 5 (Cat 5 for short) due to her hurricane-like powers. She’s trapped aboard a singles cruise when it’s attacked by a not-so-original shark villain, and it’s her responsibility to save the day. I must admit—I was left unsettled by the ignored murder of a man who was just trying to meet a gal with some dated pickup lines. I didn’t find his death as funny as I did slightly sad. I guess some guys just can’t win.
Each story presented in Lady Fight: Escalation brings some creativity to the table. “Explosion Proof” sports some smooth artwork with a confidant heroine; “One Nation” uses a fictional story to examine the very real situation of Middle Eastern culture and violence; and “Card Shark,” while the plot itself didn’t blow me away, had an upbeat and lively tone with fun atmospherics. Collectively, Lady Fight delivers some worthwhile value, but when looking at each story individually, they’re much thinner and harder to judge. I simply need more material.
Lady Fight: Escalation isn’t a great comic, but it certainly isn’t a bad one either. It’s somewhere in the middle, but has the promise of evolving into something quite good as the skills and talents of the creators evolve, too.
This comic book review originally appeared on Broken Frontier on 01 September 2009.
