Review – Fairlady #2 (Image Comics)

Fairlady #2 Brings Us Dragons, Danger, and Widows, Oh My!

Fairlady is a unique series in that every issue has a fully contained plot. What ties the issues together, of course, are the characters involved. Each issue has taught us a bit more about Jenner Faulds – the only Fairlady around.

Fairlady #2 had a great setup. There were rumored dragons, a murder, a mystery, and a widow. What more could you possibly ask for? But in all seriousness, this issue did a better job, in my opinion, of showing Jenner’s investigative strengths, as well as her moral compass.

Writing

Brian Schirmer is the brains behind Fairlady, and his distinctive style lends well to the series. In the first issue, we were introduced to Jenner Faulds’ new life, and around that, a mystery for her to solve. In Fairlady #2, Jenner is once again dealing with a mystery.

This issue excelled in a lot of ways. The storytelling technique used to introduce us to the plot was eye-catching and gave us room to immediately doubt the truth of what was said. (Right alongside our characters). From there, we were gradually fed information as we watched Jenner piece everything together. It was fascinating watching her work, as she had allies and those who looked down upon her for what she is (a female Fairman).

The methods of telling us information changed on a case-by-case basis, and it was very effective. It kept away the feeling of repetition and the appearance of info-dumping (which can be a real problem with shorter series).

I love that this series was designed to keep each issue compact and separate. While they can be read together, Schirmer also ensured that they all fully encase their plot, making them decent standalone issues.

Art

The artwork in Fairlady #2 was vibrant and full of life. Marissa Louise and Claudia Balboni brought the world of Fairlady to life with their artwork. I’ve loved their brighter style from the beginning, but this issue impressed me even further.

For me, the most impressive page was the second page of the issue. Which sounds a bit strange, but bear with me. It isn’t easy to draw fire believably, especially not with so many changing elements about it. Yet, that is what we see on this page. Combine that with several different creatures being presented, and it really was amazing. And it did a brilliant job of setting the scene.

Conclusion

Fairlady #2 lived up to both my expectations as well as the promise of the series. In many ways, I think that the second issue surpassed the first. Which, of course, has resulted in my expectations being raised for the next issue.

Jenner has been a fascinating character to follow. Not only is she exceptionally talented at getting into situations, but she’s brilliant when it comes to using the resources she has available. She does a pretty good job of giving us the tough guy impression when in truth, there’s a lot more to her than meets the eye. In short, she’s the perfect character to carry this series.

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.