Review: Plainer Jane #7
The final issue from Broken Face Comics
Being fulfilled now (I’ve got mine!) and after another successful Kickstarter campaign, the final issue of Plainer Jane is out in the wild now. Check out the details and my thoughts on this comic from Broken Face Comics.
PLAINER JANE is the darkly comic story of Jane Pearson, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl who becomes a brutally efficient killer for hire. With no training, no special skills, just her own cunning, brutality, and fearlessness, Jane leaves a trail of bodies behind her, ultimately going head to head with the feared and secretive criminal gang, The Nexus, in a war that could ultimately cost not only her life but the lives of everyone she loves.
In this final issue and with the police closing in on one side and The Nexus closing in on the other. Jane is left with a simple choice, fight, or run? Whatever she chooses to do not everyone will survive.1
This story does not have a bright start. Jane, injured and on the run, has to find help. She does, and this is where things start tumbling down for her.
It’s quite the downfall, too, as Jane’s personal life comes to pieces, and we also see how badly that can happen from both sides of the law. There are some brutal moments, too, as we get glimpses of those caught in the crossfire.
Nevertheless, this is an ending - it may not be a nice one, but there are some resolutions for those involved. I really enjoyed the look into both the police and the investigating officer’s mind, and the use of prose really mixes up the story. Again, the art makes excellent use of colours and shadows - through this series, that has been an excellent constant.
This issue was particularly gripping and had some excellent character moments, and then we get to the ending…
I mentioned that the start was not bright. Well, the ending is also pretty bleak, but it is an ending that keeps you hanging and thinking about what could be.
Dare I whisper it? Could there be a second run at these characters? I would like to hope so.
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The Team:
David Wilburn (Writer, Creator): After spending 20 years working as a Guinness World Record breaking escapologist, sword swallower, and stuntman (David Straitjacket, look him up!), he decided to return to his first loves, music and comics. Starting his own publishing company firstly to release his own work, and then later the work of other talented writers and artists. He is very proud to say that he is still famous enough to have been a question on a recent episode of The Chase. He is Manchester born and based, and focuses on creating work that celebrates the city he loves.
Samir Simão (Sequential art): Samir is a professional penciller and inker from Brazil, with years of experience making comic books for companies like Mythos, Insane Comics, Killer Comics and others around the world. Titles he has worked on include: The Nobodies -Mytho, The Devil Tree, Killer Instinct, Miss Conduct, Speak no Evil, Sweet and Saulty, Children of the Rain, Anarchy Beyond the Walls, The Zee Brothers Zombie Exterminators and more.
Tim West (Logos, lettering, print layout, Plainer Jane): Tim has been working in indie comics for over a decade. Designing amazing logos, writing, lettering, editing, blogging, and more. He has published his own book, 'Get Woke', as well as the indie anthology Killer Bytes.
Ralf Singh (Covers, Colourist Plainer Jane): In 2014 Ralf dropped out of university to pursue his passion for drawing comics. Since then he has published comics for numerous publishers in Germany, the USA, and Italy. Among them is his very own comic Zinnober which sold 8,000 copies world-wide. Today, Ralf is an accomplished author, colorist, and letterer with international experience in numerous genres.
Donna A Black (Rear Covers): Donna is a mixed media artist specialising in comic art and covers. Originally trained as a photographer she uses her skill with lighting and composition to give her mixed media artworks a very unique look and feel. She has had been involved in many group shows and major solo shows across Ireland and the UK, she has been interviewed by popular newspapers and magazines about her work and had a documentary made about one of her art shows in Ireland. She now works every day in her Belfast studio, drinking coffee, making comics and creating art.