A Love Of Reading Gets… Deadly? In Fairlady #4
by Tony Thornley
Who would have thought that trying to hunt down the last page of a beloved book could potentially get you killed? However in Fairlady #4, that’s exactly the situation Jenner finds herself in as she dives into a job that’s a lot more than what she signed up for.
Brian Schirmer, Claudia Balboni, Marissa Louise, and David Bowman gives us the most unexpected Fairlady mystery so far.
Jenner is hired for the strangest case of her career so far as a Fairlady. A cat-masked benefactor needs her help to find the last page of the most engrossing and fascinating mystery they’ve ever read- because the last page was torn out of his copy. This sends her into one of the most complicated investigations of her career. Can she find the missing page, and come through it unscathed?
I was surprised by how much I liked this issue. It was utterly bizarre and funny, with turns and twists that are completely unexpected. The result is just as funny, with Scirmer giving us two separate solutions, both of which are silly, and completely plausible. Through it all though, we see the same dogged determination from Jenner that we did the last few issues, despite the utterly baffling and absurd mystery.
Balboni shows off her talents for comedy, while still building a fascinating world around Jenner. She paces the story carefully, and plays it straight, allowing the absurdity of the situation to tell the jokes, rather than lapse into slapstick or parody. Her design skills (alongside Louise’s great color work) continues to make the Feld a rich and interesting world.
Jenner made it through this one okay, but maybe next time a story might be better off unfinished.
Fairlady #4 is available now from Image Comics.
