Bad Girls

Alex de Campi continues to be the best writer in comics, which seems to be a status not everyone is aware of, and that makes me mad. Bad Girls maintains that best writer status, with a turn on a noir sensibility, which isn't a genre that always comes out the way the author envisions, or even one I always enjoy. Doing good noir is hard, and usually relies on the visual side, or aping style from other previously successful attempts. That's not to say this feels dated or derivative, Alex has a very distinct and modern tone to her writing which ultimately just feels like an Alex de Campi book - if that makes sense.Victor Santos also draws his butt off here, making a book that's definitely in my top 5 for visuals of 2018. Whenever I get new books, they usually stay on my desk or coffee table a few weeks/months until I've read them a few times and finally get around to sorting them onto the bookshelf in some manner. People often comment on stuff I have laying around, but literally every person who saw this book were drawn to pick it up, and I know at least 2 people who went out to purchase it themselves after a quick flip-through.After reading this book, if the quote "I can't be here anymore! You're all lousy! I'M LEAVING." isn't your motto for 2019, then sorry but we just can't be friends.

'Bad Girls' by Alex de Campi and Victor Santos is a stylish graphic novel with a pretty good story to tell.The story takes place on New Year's Eve 1958 in a nightclub in Cuba. The main characters are a group of women who work in the club. One is the girlfriend of the club owner, another is a dancer, and there is a singer. There is a visit by a mainland mobster, and a large sum of money being funneled off to the Cuban military. Through events in the story, the women decide to take the money and start a new life elsewhere. Things don't go as planned for anyone involved.These women barely know each other at the beginning of the story, so their motivations for helping each other are tenuous at best. These are pretty flawed characters, but it's a pretty good noir story.Driving it all is some fabulous art that reminded me of some of the great work of the late Darwyn Cooke. I loved the colors and some of the full pages. I also really liked how the music of the era intertwines with the art to provide a soundtrack to the narrative.I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Gallery 13, Threshold, Pocket Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

​Gangster’s moll Carole, jazz singer Taffy, and mambo queen Ana all want out of Batista’s Havana.However, it’s New Year’s Eve, and they need to work. Little do they realize on this night, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista has decided to skip the country thus letting it fall to Fidel Castro.Now it is Carole, Taffy and Ana’s chance to get out and start over in Miami with the help of six stolen suitcases filled with dirty money. Of course, it’s one thing to steal the cash and quite another to get off the island alive.At first blush of Victor Santos’ cover work for BAD GIRLS, I thought of what Frank Miller and Darwyn Cooke had done in the crime genre. In my opinion, that’s excellent company. However, the interior pages were a bit too cartoony for me.Yes, Frank Miller used exaggerated character designs for Sin City. Darwyn Cooke’s work on Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score calls back to his more cartoony superhero style. However, looking over his Parker adaptions, Cooke had moved into a much more realistic style which is grounded and intense.Still, I think Santos’ storytelling is tight and easy to follow, especially in the violent action sequences and the line work is solid and expressive, but the cartoony style took away from the seriousness of the story being told.For my taste, I wish it was a bit more grounded and detailed. I think this art needed just a bit more of realism and on model work, because at first with the big heads and stick figure bodies I thought this was a this was an all-ages crime, but then there’s the sex, language, and violence quickly cleared up that misconception.A stand out throughout this graphic novel is the coloring. Santos does a great job of capturing the night club’s high contrast lighting and Cuba’s balmy night. When the daylight of the new year arrives, it is a slap in the face, and my eyes squinted.Alex de Campi’s script is a big tome of 224 pages. The plotting and character development for both lead and supporting characters are substantial using the gn’s ample page count to let things unfold at a nice pace.The intersection of the four plot lines is not clunky; the characters’ multifaceted backstories come out when necessary and natural. The leads are in a crime story, and de Campi doesn’t have a problem presenting them as smart yet very flawed and swimming way beyond their depth at times.Moreover, like any great crime story, nothing is sacred for her. de Campi isn’t afraid to punch you in the gut with some serious violence as the story speeds towards its climax.Finally, there are some poignant political moments as the citizens of Cuba struggle with their new found freedom from Batista and an uncertain future with Castor who looms over the story like a spectre.If you like crime fiction with the bonus of girl power and old politics, then check out Gallery 13’s Bad Girls by Alex de Campi and Victor Santos.

Cuba in 1958 was awash in nightclubs and casinos owned by the mob that catered to the tourist crowd. On New Years Eve, the owner was visited by a group from the mob in NYC, auditing the books. At the same time, certain female employees decided they needed the money to get out of the country before Castro took over more than the Mob, the El Eden or Batista and his generals did. It was a bit spontaneous rather planned, so the results were bloody with not everyone making a clean getaway. But a nice bit of historical fiction in graphic form.Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this.

Four women. The eve of the Cuban revolution. A suitcase full of money. Those are the ingredients for this sizzling, snappy and cruel noir comic by De Campi and Santos. I can't say enough about Santos' storytelling here--the panels move and sway like music, and he's got a real gift for incorporating that most difficult to capture element in comics: sound and time. This one's a definite keeper.

Alex de Campi and Victor Santos crafted a stylish thrillride against the backdrop of a revolution.Every character has a distinct voice and you understand their motivations as the story plays out. The pacing and soundtrack (yes, a soundtrack in a graphic novel) made this read a page turner where I couldn't wait to see what happens next. I needed to have a second read to fully enjoy the storytelling majesty of the richly colorful art. Highly recommended.