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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
This is the story about three wives who take over for their mobster boyfriends. Funny enough there's a movie out now called "Widows" that has a similar idea but more about robbing banks. This is basically Irish/Italian mobster storylines.
So when these wives all team up they begin to take over their husbands business. Collecting, putting the fear in advisories, and building a empire. However, the deeper they get into the mob life the worse it gets. They drift apart, some becoming more evil than others, till the point where everyone is out for themselves.
Good: The storyline is actually pretty good despite doing similar stories of the past. The way each character changes is pretty neat, and the body count is super high so lots of surprise deaths. I also enjoyed the ending as it was as dark as expected.
Bad: The art is okayish. Some moments are great but the sketchy art sometimes makes action moments hard to follow. I also thought it felt a bit rushed in the last issue, probably needed one extra issue.
Overall enjoyable, a surprise actually, and something a bit different. A 3.5 out of 5.
So when these wives all team up they begin to take over their husbands business. Collecting, putting the fear in advisories, and building a empire. However, the deeper they get into the mob life the worse it gets. They drift apart, some becoming more evil than others, till the point where everyone is out for themselves.
Good: The storyline is actually pretty good despite doing similar stories of the past. The way each character changes is pretty neat, and the body count is super high so lots of surprise deaths. I also enjoyed the ending as it was as dark as expected.
Bad: The art is okayish. Some moments are great but the sketchy art sometimes makes action moments hard to follow. I also thought it felt a bit rushed in the last issue, probably needed one extra issue.
Overall enjoyable, a surprise actually, and something a bit different. A 3.5 out of 5.
Read in anticipation of seeing the movie, which has a lot of latitude to improve on the source material. With the exception of Raven (who you can tell by her, you know, raven-colored hair for a good chunk of the story), the character development and distinctions are weak, with most fading into stock character appearance and dialogue. I couldn't tell you many meaningful differences between Kath, Angie, Johnny, Jimmie, Frankie, Tony etc., beyond gender. Some of the story is conveyed in subtle facial cues and gestures, which should translate better in motion picture performance.
Pretty good. Basically a Brubaker style crime book, but with ladies as the leads. Decent artwork, not the best but perfectly serviceable with good facial expressions. The book was all in all, pretty well paced, even though the time skips between issues was sometimes jarring but it worked mostly. It kept me guessing but not in a confusing way. The ending was genuinely surprising, even though it was pretty obvious that things wouldn't end up going well, I didn't know exactly how it would go down. Good crime comix.
3.1/5 stars
Plot: 4/5 - The concept is rad af. This story is all about three gangster's wives in the 1970s who take over their husbands' work when the guys are sent to jail. I felt like maybe the story was a bit ambitious for the short format (this is an eight-issue miniseries, so this one volume is all there is) but I overall really enjoyed the story, even when the subject matter got a little stale. Oh, and I think it goes without saying but if you're someone who cannot handle gore this is not a story for you. So many gunshots.
Characters: 4/5 - I skewed this rating a bit because there is just so little time to flesh out these characters, but I really, really enjoyed Kath, Raven, and Angie. I especially wish we had gotten more of Angie, because her character seemed to be the least explored. I expected to hate Tommy but he was one of my favorite characters???? Go figure. The main reason this section lost points was because of the husbands. They were shown so briefly and so intermittently that it was super confusing? Like I don't understand who they are, we didn't even get an explanation of what each woman's' husbands' name was so when a new guy would show up I had to play a guessing game of if he was from a rival gang or if it was her husband.
Pacing: 2/5 - This story was SO FAST PACED. And not like in an exciting action movie way, but like a give-you-whiplash-trying-to-keep-up kind of way. You are just dumped right into the story and it takes a good three issues before you start to feel like you're grasping what's going on. I think the pacing reaalllly improved by the end, which is why I went with two stars instead of one but yeah, it was a lot to take in.
Writing: 2.5/5 - There were a few golden moments that I will treasure forever (i.e. "Remember, just 'cause you ain't got a dick don't mean you gotta be treated like one. Don't take no shit." and "This ain't over. I'll find you." "Casey's Pub, corner of 43rd. Come see if I give a fuck.") but honestly the majority of the writing seems to be pretty standard gangster fare. There were a hearty number of f-bombs peppered on every page, which was annoying to read though it doesn't bother me on a personal level. There were some bits of dialogue I didn't completely understand, but I'm guessing someone with more exposure to these kinds of stories would have followed just fine. So yeah, just a median score here.
Enjoyment: 3/5 - I liked the story! I think the ending managed to kick this up a half a point. I'll also mention the art here, because it was pretty solid. Perhaps not my favorite art style, but the coloring was really good and the ladies were serving some serious looks.
Plot: 4/5 - The concept is rad af. This story is all about three gangster's wives in the 1970s who take over their husbands' work when the guys are sent to jail. I felt like maybe the story was a bit ambitious for the short format (this is an eight-issue miniseries, so this one volume is all there is) but I overall really enjoyed the story, even when the subject matter got a little stale. Oh, and I think it goes without saying but if you're someone who cannot handle gore this is not a story for you. So many gunshots.
Spoiler
And a surprising number of severed heads.Characters: 4/5 - I skewed this rating a bit because there is just so little time to flesh out these characters, but I really, really enjoyed Kath, Raven, and Angie. I especially wish we had gotten more of Angie, because her character seemed to be the least explored. I expected to hate Tommy but he was one of my favorite characters???? Go figure. The main reason this section lost points was because of the husbands. They were shown so briefly and so intermittently that it was super confusing? Like I don't understand who they are, we didn't even get an explanation of what each woman's' husbands' name was so when a new guy would show up I had to play a guessing game of if he was from a rival gang or if it was her husband.
Pacing: 2/5 - This story was SO FAST PACED. And not like in an exciting action movie way, but like a give-you-whiplash-trying-to-keep-up kind of way. You are just dumped right into the story and it takes a good three issues before you start to feel like you're grasping what's going on. I think the pacing reaalllly improved by the end, which is why I went with two stars instead of one but yeah, it was a lot to take in.
Writing: 2.5/5 - There were a few golden moments that I will treasure forever (i.e. "Remember, just 'cause you ain't got a dick don't mean you gotta be treated like one. Don't take no shit." and "This ain't over. I'll find you." "Casey's Pub, corner of 43rd. Come see if I give a fuck.") but honestly the majority of the writing seems to be pretty standard gangster fare. There were a hearty number of f-bombs peppered on every page, which was annoying to read though it doesn't bother me on a personal level. There were some bits of dialogue I didn't completely understand, but I'm guessing someone with more exposure to these kinds of stories would have followed just fine. So yeah, just a median score here.
Enjoyment: 3/5 - I liked the story! I think the ending managed to kick this up a half a point
Spoiler
because my favorite characters! They returned! Sorry Raven but it was a fairly poetic ending
Perfectly pleasant (which is a weird thing to say about a mob story) but a bit of a highlight reel
A really engaging crime story set in the 70's. The art and colours are also great and really set the mood of the story.
It's the 1970's in Hells Kitchen and three members of the Irish mob have just been sent to jail. This story follows the rise of their wives who take over the operation. Sometimes they get in over their heads but they pick up the ropes fast and when you have power like that why would you give it back? The story can be dark in places and it becomes evident that some of the women are much more comfortable with being ruthless criminals than others cue backstabbing and and murder.
It's a pretty cliched 1970s mob crime tale. The big difference is that they're female. It's a pretty typical