Oni Press 2019
Written by Magdalene Visaggio
Illustrated by Claudia Aguirre
Lettered by Zakk Saam
The Sick Sisters know there's something wrong in their small town of Tucker, Ohio -- and they also know that the authorities aren't doing anything about it. When the girls take the investigation into their own hands, they run into wild conspiracy theories, abandoned homes... and something that screeches in the night.
I like how this issue starts off. Nancy and Veronica are watching the police and there isn’t anything suspicious at all about it. It is cute actually because these may be two of the Sick Sisters and they may have had trouble with the law in the past but they are not exactly up on their skills when it comes to tailing or investigating. Mags manages to bring a sense of realism to the story with this aspect and it’s one that I find refreshing and endearing. It feels like whatever the girls uncover it is going to be purely by chance or luck though by the end of this arc I suspect they’ll have learned a lot of new tricks of the trade.
I am enjoying the way that this is being structured. Could there be a more boring place in the 80’s than Ohio (I say this as I lived in Ohio throughout the 80’s) and yet we play the cards we’re dealt in life. That bowl is a reminder of my teenage years and the whole nostalgia throwback feel that this gives to the reader is pretty amazing. Another bonus to having this set in small town America is that the girls get climb up to second story bedrooms which kind of goes hand in hand with being able to move around town without really being seen as there are plenty of blind spots throughout.
This issue we get a much better look at their individual personalities. We met them as a group and yes Nancy kind of became the ipso facto lead with the focus on her but here with Ashley getting turn to shine was rather interesting to see. Her theory as to what is happening in town with that secretive new plant and how they single-handedly save the town is something you definitely need to see for yourself, it’s out there in ways that would make any conspiracy theorist jump up and down with glee.
I love Claudia’s interior artwork on this book. The linework is really quite spectacular to see and page seven is one of the best examples I can think of to demonstrate this. Yes that does mean you’d have to find the book and see for yourself. Plus I absolutely adore the fact that she pays so much quality attention to the backgrounds here. Everything she does she puts the effort into so that we get what we’re seeing and whether it is in focus or not you can see the talent and skill involved in bringing it all to life. Plus everyone we meet has this unique individual look to them that they become so easily identifiable. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off a great eye for storytelling. The colour work too is great to see and how light sources, shading, gradation and shadows are utilised is perfectly done.
I love this story it is nothing like I was anticipating it to be. Mags has the story & plot development down to a science and the pacing with it’s characterisation driving the book forward helps find connections with the girls and what they are doing. This is a burgeoning detective story by a group of so-called bad girls and these bad girls and working together to make it unforgettable.