The lives of four women come into play, but are they interesting enough to hold anyone’s attention? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

Sexy female clowns are mistaken for contract killers and abandon their shabby traveling circus for a world of violence and cruelty—with clown makeup.

The world is full of odd things, but every so often a concept that may sound strange can end up being oddly inviting. That’s the case here as this creative team crafts something that exists beyond the norm but within the scope of their own planned mandate. We’re introduced to a seedy world full of potential homicides as twists and turns make this a comic book worth checking out.

The script by Victor Gischler is fun and inviting in ways I just did not see coming. He crafts a quartet of protagonists with varied origins, as this warped version of a team comes face to face with the shortcomings of their current occupation. I’m not going to lie if you’re a fan of clowns this might be an off putting venture, especially when considering that the scribe uses that detail as a source of angst for our primary cast. I did find that some of the jokes fell flat under the weight of necessary expansion to the narrative path. That said the bulk of it more than worked from the first panel to the final page.

Maurizio Rosenzweig is a wonder when it comes to the illustrations found here. The characters are lively, attractive but most importantly strikingly realized. There are quite a few moments where a, shall we say, overabundance of focus is paid to their bodily features but as long as that is not off putting there’s plenty to adore here. The composition of the piece is uplifted by enough sensory details to make this outlandish romp work. In short: the renditions found are exploitative but masterfully handled.

Clown Fatale #1 has a message: be grateful you’re not a clown.  Combine that with the creative team’s efforts and you have something that easily earns a recommendation from me.

4/5