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POPPING
CHERRIES: LITTLE RED HOT
Action,
adventure, and shouting at the Devil.
 Writer
and Artist: Dawn Brown
Trade paperback
Published by Image 1998
$12.95
Reviewed
by Scott J Grunewald
Chane
doesn't have a soul. It was given to her husband, who happens
to be the Devil, on their wedding day. This doesn't seem to bother
her for the most part. In fact, for a mercenary/bounty hunter/professional
killer like her, it's an asset. But when a dying millionaire asks
Chane to help him find God she suddenly realizes what she's given
away.
Mr.
Ball is an aging playboy who committed a sin so grievous that
he needs to make amends with God in person before he dies. At
first Chane thinks he's nuts, but something is turned on inside
her. She takes the job, even against her husband's wishes, and
jets Mr. Ball off to The Vatican for an audience with The Pope.
However, kidnapping the Pope doesn't seem to work, so taking the
word of a stranger who looks oddly like Mel Gibson, Chane and
Mr. Ball head off to Israel where they find something that neither
of them expected to find.
 And
what they find prompts Chane to demand her soul back. The Devil
obviously isn't happy about that, and the fuse is lit. Chane and
The Devil are at war, and as we all know, a war with Satan can
get very messy.
LITTLE
RED HOT's story is a wonder to watch unfold. Brown, who won
the 1998 Xeric Foundation grant for this story, is a very skilled
and subtle writer who takes her time revealing the plot, but isn't
afraid to let the story kick into fourth gear when we, as the
reader, need it to. Her dialogue is fresh, often funny and totally
cinematic.
| "Brown is a very skilled and subtle
writer who takes her time revealing the plot, but isn't afraid
to let the story kick into fourth gear" |
It's
obvious Brown has a background in film, because LITTLE RED
HOT has the pace of a blockbuster action movie and the delicate,
careful dialogue of a Mamet film. It's a multilayered and dense
comic that, aside from the main plot, is packed with stray ideas
and characters, but is smart enough to never waste them.
In
obvious contrast to the full story and plot is the simple and
sparse artwork. Brown wastes no line, no brush stroke and no stray
panel. She instead relies on pure sequential story telling techniques,
with a few computer enhancements and a lot of gray washing. The
art is wonderful and mesmerizing precisely because it's meant
solely to move the story along, never to show off. Art like this
is a rarity in today's comics; a comparison to Will Eisner is
not out of the question. Brown may not yet be the master that
Eisner is, but she knows how to tell a story visually, and how
to draw us in with the simplest of images.
LITTLE
RED HOT is not what you'd expect in a pick for our Popping Cherries
review. It has a dog fight between F-15's and Mig's, an assassination
plot or two, a guardian angel, and at times borrows a little heavily
from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS (Brown freely admits that Miller
is one of her major inspirations, and it shows).
But
LITTLE RED HOT is a wonderfully poetic and inspirational
read that manages to tell its story without resorting to cliche
or contrived plots. Chane is a heroine who actually wears her
head-to-toe leather cat suit instead of having it spray-painted
on, and this is a comic that you can loan out shame-free. Not
everyone will like it, but they won't be able to deny that it's
a mature and special comic.
Recommended
Scott
J Grunewald is a Publisher of PopImage. Back
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