Killer Princesses

    (Oni, 2002, 2004)
™ and © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Gail Simone and Lea Hernandez

They’re beautiful. They get elected prom queen. They won’t talk to the nerdy guys. As if there weren’t enough reasons to hate the most popular girls in school, writer Gail Simone provides another: they’re also deadly assassins. Geeks and third-world dictators, take cover.

Faith, Hope, and Charity are three ditzy members of a sorority who are, nonetheless, specially trained killers for hire. These girls couldn’t identify George Washington if you gave them a dollar but they can lay siege to an armed compound and barely get their gowns dirty.

And they spend the first 17 pages or so doing just that. During which the reader is wondering precisely how and why this odd scenario is happening. The latter pages provide some explanation, but by this time it’s too little and too late. The introductory scene is way too long and plods along at such a slow pace that the story generates no interest. And the dialog isn’t nearly as funny as it’s supposed to be. Lea Hernandez’s art is decent, but many panels are murky and lack sufficient detail, slowing the story even further.

Grim and gritty prom queens? Please. The whole “When (fill in the blank) turns bad” concept has been tiresome for a while now, both in comics and other media, and Killer Princesses only adds to the glut.

—Jim Johnson
Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist
#1

December, 2001
Cover Price: $2.95
5 copies available from $1.99 		Gail SimoneLea Hernandez
#2

June, 2002
Cover Price: $2.95
2 copies available from $2.99 		Gail SimoneLea Hernandez
#3

April, 2003
Cover Price: $2.99
2 copies available from $2.50 		Gail SimoneLea Hernandez