Broken Frontier

Judo Girl’s life becomes more confusing as she meets with an old flirtation and discovers a disturbing change in her enemy, the assassin Silencer.

Before getting into the review a note of clarification needs to be made. In my review for Judo Girl #1 I had stated that there was no recap of the events in the previous miniseries. This proved to be incorrect as the page with the recap was simply, accidentally left out of the advance review file sent to me. Since that time I have received the missing page and it does help frame the action for both the first issue and this one as well.

Turning now to the action in this issue, we see how tightly Diana has been strung as she is startled by the empty costume of Silencer, which Diana had been keeping as a souvenir of a previous case. In hopes of feeling more at home, Diana decides to meet Lincoln Stanley, the former villain Hepcat, for lunch. Unfortunately for her, this old flirtation, now gray haired, still has romance on his mind and he makes her only realize more how much her life has changed. As she struggles with her feelings of loneliness she finds even her job as Judo Girl is getting harder as Silencer is making the news in some very strange ways. Can Judo Girl uncover the truth behind all of this or will she break down under the strain?

There are some comics that hit the ground running right from the first issue. There are other titles, however, that take an issue or two to get warmed up before they start tearing up the track. Judo Girl is definitely in that second category. The story in this issue really heats up as Diana becomes more and more troubled by her place in this time and her past. Added to that is a surprising twist at the end of the issue that will leave the reader wondering where this adventure is headed next. That sense of the unexpected, that anything can or perhaps will happen, is always a welcome find.

Alex Julian’s pencils also seem to settle a bit in this issue. There are fewer anatomical oddities that catch the reader’s eye and detract from the comic. Also, in the first issue Julian occasionally broke with the panel borders but here he goes all out in an art style that is almost 3-D without the glasses. Figures and debris reach and fly out toward the reader as if eager to burst straight from the page. It is an unusual touch and it almost makes me wish the comic could be printed with a 3-D effect.

The creative team on this book have really hit their stride with this issue and realized the potential displayed with their #1. With quirky characters, a deepening mystery, and a charming and witty heroine, Judo Girl entertains.