Written and Illustrated by Frank Cho
Published by AWA Studios / Upshot
Dang it, I really want to like this book.
At this point, you must be tired of my criticisms of Fight Girls, because I’ve got a lot more of the same.
Do I get any characterization of the remaining contestants for me to truly care what happens to them? Sure, Xandra Blackwater is the only one with an attempt at a personality, but it’s generic cool broad, as one would expect from a hot redhead sporting an eye patch.
I said in my review of the previous issue that Cho draws the women with the same face. That’s still true, but this time I add to the pile that each woman here has the same athletic yet buxom-and-bootyful body.
It’s not as if Cho is known for drawing a wide range of women, and he’s far from the only artist you can lob this criticism at.
But when you create a story featuring 10 female characters at the front of it, then why not assume the challenge to create 10 distinct individuals rather than just interchanging their hair?
Just four women remain in this contest for the empire’s crown. In Challenge 3, we have reached the ocean. Swim a mile from the landing pad to the teleport platform.
One contestant just dives right in, and it’s ridiculous because we know some kind of creature is going to show up and kill her. She has to know this, too, right?
This issue delivers on that promise, with some serious gore on the level that I had hoped this comic book would bring on the regular. It’s a real shocker; trust me.
However, the other conceits still annoy me. The voiceovers of the production team plus the on-air commentators who offer nothing to the story that we already can see in each panel.
We do receive another glimpse at spies hunting other spies as they try to piece together the mystery of Xandra Blackwater. But again, it’s tough to care when we spend so little time with them.
I’m not sure where it all ties together yet, or whether we’ve even gotten a glimpse of who this Xandra really is and whether she’s working for anyone. A parallel story that clued us in on the palace intrigue more would be helpful because we have to know the society we’re moving in.
