Hard Case Crime/Titan Comics 2021
By Cynthia Von Buhler
Lettered by Jim Campbell
This series is rated Adults Only
DISCLAIMER: graphic sexuality
Private investigator Minky Woodcock becomes involved in an investigation of maverick genius Nikola Tesla, and discovers a horrifying conspiracy involving Thomas Edison and the Nazis!
A stylish, glamorous feminist take on the classic gumshoe!
I love Minky she’s one of those great character finds that comes along every so often that captures your imagination beautifully. That Cynthia manages to blend reality with fiction the way that she does here is absolutely incredible to me. The way that this whole story managed to play itself out with Dr. Trump, the FBI and the Nazi’s all wanting the same thing from Minky was extremely well told. With the usual bits of intrigue, espionage, danger and sexual adventures with some famous partners Minky really manages to pull of a few stunts of her own that make her the kind of woman you want to be friends with, or a sexual partner of. This really does ignite the passion and creativity in the reader exceptionally well and when it’s all said and done you really want to know when the next adventure is going to begin.
I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does wonders in how we see the characters portrayed. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we are kept engaged and invested all the way up to the last page.
I have to say that I am impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. Whether or not the layers work with the main arc or simply swirl around it they add some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. Her father’s confession and Josephine Baker’s friendship all play roles in how we see these layers and the impact they have. The way that everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably rendered.
The interiors here really are truly enchanting. The linework is wonderful and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is extremely nice to see. Personally I’d like to see backgrounds being utilised more often still how we see the composition within the panels and how they bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is rendered exceedingly well. I gotta say her dad in his prime was rather well endowed and wow. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works and how to maximise the affect that it has.
With the revelations and the way we see the case being closed and the celebration thereafter really does a brilliant job of tying up all the loose ends. I’m really rathe quite impressed with the work that Cynthia does and that she does it all here so everything we see is precisely what she intends and that makes all the difference in the world for the reader. The writing is spectacular and the characterisation is utterly marvellous and it’s all wrapped up in these delightful interiors so that we get lost in Minky’s world and don’t want to leave it.