Does this oddly original concept still generate enough quality material to earn praise? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

Harlequin vixens Chloe, Aya, Tina, and Candy may not be assassins, but they’re armed and dangerous and pissed. The girls must accept a local-yokel crime boss’s murder-for-hire contract if they ever hope to escape the demeaning life of being clowns in a two-bit circus.

There’s no denying that this is an offensively sexual romp with some moments that can only be described as zany. That said, I can’t help but admit how much I’m enjoying this ride. The creative team crafts yet another endlessly engaging release while offering up depth to our cast, chief among them the primary protagonist. With all that taken in, and excusing some off moments, you really have some magic working here from cover to cover.

Victor Gischler handles the script with the care it deserves, as he steadily moves this burgeoning hit-squad along their path toward not redemption but liberation. The long and short of it is: they hate their job and in their mind’s they need to escape it at any cost, but we do start to see the implications of last month’s outing. Several of the women feel more than alright killing, while a few carry a sense of worry that frames the first portion of this jaunt. There were short comings, but nothing that prevented this tale from being a quality entry in this fresh franchise.

The art by Maurizio Rosenweig fits the text in ways that illuminate the shortcomings while uplifting the selling points. His renditions are more than a bit over the top, but for what we’re given they more than fit, especially as we see animals get in on the action. There’s a lot to love and to be honest my only complaint is that I felt some of the shots exploited the players a bit too much as their, shall we say assets, could not be contained in their wardrobe.

Clown Fatale #2 is an excellent continuation that pushes this devilish concept even further. Recommended.

4/5