Broken Frontier

Biological terrorism and sex on the beach—it’s just another average week for Painkiller Jane.

After nearly dying in an explosion, Jane Vasko’s unique drug-induced healing ability saves her life once again. Liberating herself from an ambulance, Jane attempts to make her way home on the subway (sans pants) and put this disaster of a day behind her. But a criminal unleashing chemical warfare on commuters has other plans. After yet another near-death experience, Jane’s friends think it’s time for her to get some R&R at a local beach. But things are never simple in Jane’s world.

Coinciding with the new t.v. series on the Sci-Fi Channel, Dynamite Entertainment presents this newest volume of Painkiller Jane. Co-creators Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada introduce the character and her supporting cast well without being too heavy-handed. Their scripting and dialogue has an appealing sarcastic bite to it that makes Jane a fun character to read about, a quintessential tough chick who takes no crap from anyone and views the world through a jaded lens. Her color commentary on the adventure is probably the most amusing part of the story. Jane clawing her way out of a body bag was a disarming and dramatic way to begin the issue and also served to introduce the character’s abilities to new readers. Devoting the second half to Jane relaxing on the beach seems an unusual choice for a first issue (not the most compelling drama) but presumably the person she meets there will take on greater significance later.

The artwork is provided by Lee Moder and his occasionally angular cartoony touches give the book a quirky look of its own. Although the pant-less commute and beach scene provide a measure of cheesecake, Moder also gives Jane a somewhat gawky appearance and gait as a result of her injuries. It serves to drive home that what this heroine does is not always pretty and having a healing factor doesn’t mean one can’t get royally messed up. One area where Moder could improve is his rendering of eyelashes however, as most of the women in this issue look like they’ve lost a battle with a disgruntled mascara brush.

On the whole, this is a solid start to the new series with an interesting and sardonic heroine.