Art By: Ming Doyle
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 17, 2014
One-Way Street
The Kitchen is really about. In the first issue of the series the girls showed what they were willing to do in order to survive while their husbands were off the street and locked away in jail, though some of them were more all in than others. By the end of this issue that's no longer the case, with all three women proving that they are all in.
When you come to do anything for too long--be it good or bad--it starts to become a way of life; changing back to your old habits seems impossible and at it's core that's what this issue of
When we last left our female friends that had beaten and bloodied Franky leaving him for dead. Upon receiving news that he was alive and in the hospital the girls decided that they were in the clear and safe to continue doing their business--and they were until Nicky showed up.
Nicky is not a likable character at all and I have to give serious credit at this point to writer and co-creater Ollie Masters. Masters managed to take three women and get them to do the most un-ladylike tasks possible (debt collection, beatdowns, etc.) and have you feeling emotionally attached to these women and completely in their corner. In the same breath Masters can find a way to introduce a character like Nicky that brought immediate distain to my pallet. Some of the credit has to be given to Ming Doyle, finding a way to draw each of the girls that gives them their own identity while managing to use subtle features to subconsciously sway an opinion of one character to another.
With Nicky in the picture, the girls aren't collecting for their husbands. Instead, they are out busting their humps to collect twenty large to keep Nicky from singing to Franky's brother about what happened in the alley that night and who was responsible for beating his brother within an inch of his life. While the girls are out collecting all of this hush money, they get word that Tommy, an old member of the business, is out of prison. If there's one character I'm gonna hate more than Nicky it's going to be Tommy. At the same time I think Tommy is going to find himself being one of the more interesting characters to cross the paths of Kath, Raven, and Angie.
When the issue started out I was really liking it but as it grew closer to a close I realized something--the exposition was great, but it led to a similar payoff like the first issue did, and that's not a good thing. Angie by far had the most character development in this issue and while that was a good thing I wish her payoff could have been altered at least a bit from the last. While the issue doesn't end in an alleyway it probably would have been better than it had. On the bright side Tommy has managed to find where the girls are, setting up for a rather interesting situation in issue #3.
Bits and Pieces
Ollie Masters manages to craft a great story, unfortunately full of a lot more exposition, but still an incredibly fun read nonetheless. The concept of three women running a small crime empire in Hell's Kitchen is fascinating and while I know there are going to be bumps in the road this is still one of the books I most look forward to on my pull list. Despite the fantastic writing the real superstar of the issue is Ming Doyle's art. Doyle creates a world I love to see full of character that seem incredibly real despite being drawings on a page.
8/10
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