Originally published on Set The Tape
The second issue of Kickstarter-funded comic Plainer Jane has now been released, and readers are able to get to know Jane a lot better as we witness her getting to make her first human kill.
The first issue in the series was pretty good, but we weren’t given a huge chance to see what Jane was going to be capable of. Yes, we saw her take on her first job, killing a dog, but she wasn’t exactly great at it. Well, it seems like Jane is very much aware of how poorly she did, and is setting out to make sure that she actually gets better at her chosen line of work.
The first half of the issue we get to see Jane interacting with her friends and her family, and learn that she’s floundering somewhat. She doesn’t like her life the way it is, and the ordinary day to day parts of life bore her. Her friends are trying to encourage her into pursuing nursing after school, whilst her father is trying to get her to go into engineering, but Jane herself has no idea what direction to set for herself outside of killing. This leads to her becoming more and more insular, and we begin to see cracks form, especially with her relationship with her parents. Fortunately, after a few weeks of waiting, she gets hired to kill a man having an affair with someone’s wife. This sets Jane out on a path to take her first human life.
It’s good to get to see how Jane goes about doing things, seeing her taking her time, learning her target’s routine, following people, and planning for how she would eventually perform the deed. It allows the reader to see a little bit of how her mind works, how she likes to plan and measure things, how the research is as much a satisfying part of her chosen field of work as the killing is.
As with the first issue the art, provided by Wayne Lowden, is good, and the trouble I had with following who Jane was in the first issue doesn’t seem to be a problem this time around. As with the first issue, the book is presented in black and white with the red of blood and Jane’s inner thoughts presented in red, making the moments where the colour is used stand out on the page. It’s a pretty good technique, and is definitely better than being fully black and white. However, the stand-out artwork is definitely the cover by Ralf Singh, which is just gorgeous.
Plainer Jane is definitely getting more interesting as the series progresses, and I like that Jane’s work as a hired killer is starting to brush up against her regular life; it’s a storyline I’m definitely interested in seeing more of in future issues. I’d also be interested in the book further exploring some of Jane’s personality that’s only slightly touched upon in this issue, such as the possibility that Jane might be asexual. Whatever David Wilburn has in store for future issues, I’m sure that it’s going to be entertaining.
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