Written by Ron Marz
Art by Sami Basri; Jessica Kholinne; & Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Art by Sami Basri & Sunny Gho
SUMMARY:
Published by DC Comics for November 2011, this WildCATS spin-off and New 52-launched series opener is entitled “Keeping Secrets.” At the tawdry Voodoo Lounge, covert Black Razor agents Fallon and Evans conduct surveillance on sultry stripper Priscilla “Voodoo” Kitaen.
Before returning to her hotel room, a disgusted Fallon easily dispatches four underage punks who try hassling her. Backstage, Priscilla chats with her fellow female employees before fulfilling a request for a client’s ‘private dance.’ As Priscilla seductively strips, undercover client Evans discloses that the covert Black Razors have already deduced that she is an alien shape-shifting spy. The smarmy agent’s effort to induce a nearly-nude Priscilla’s surrender ends in bloodshed.
Assuming her victim’s identity, Priscilla initiates an escape plan.
REVIEW:
Considering the entire issue occurs at a strip joint, one can readily guess why Voodoo # 1 is virtually semi-porn. Though the artwork (including a spot-on cover image) is high-caliber, writer Ron Marz’s sleazy script hardly does justice to Jim Lee’s alluring WildCATS character. Its premise is a hybrid of Striptease meets Species.
In fairness, shifting sultry Voodoo into a noir-like femme fatale has some intriguing potential. The problem is that the gratuitous depiction of her occupation comes off so overtly sexist. Even if Priscilla’s dressing room dialogue, for instance, with her fellow strippers is plausible enough, too much time is fixated on panels ogling her partially-dressed peers. Instead of over-playing the tawdry visuals, a capable writer like Marz should made this Priscilla Kitaen more of an actual anti-heroine than a horror schlock male fantasy.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
There are single-page interviews with The Savage Hawkman creative team (writer Tony Daniel & artist Philip Tan) and The Fury of Firestorm: Nuclear Men (co-writer Ethan Van Sciver & artist Vildiray Cinar). DC Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras offer a single-page “DC All Access” look at the fourth week of New 52.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 2 Stars
