Issue #2 picks up right where we left off in the debut. Josie is hired to make a hit on a man in a seedy club where she’s forced to wear a scantily-clad red kitten outfit and pretend to be a waitress. Ironically, the one man at the table she’s serving who she intends to take out makes a crude innuendo. When she comes back with his drink, she leaves him a note to meet her in the cloak room. Obviously he’s not in for what he thinks he is, as we see Josie at her most primal and brutal in this fight scene. Her target is a big guy, so there’s no way he’s going to go down easy. That also means it won’t be as stealthy as her much more docile prey that was featured in last month’s issue, so things could get complicated. I don’t want to spoil what ultimately happens, as it’s a decent chunk of the issue, but it’s a beautifully drawn and thrilling scene. We also learn later that Peck is romantically interested in Josie, as hinted at in the first issue. This definitely lightened the mood a bit. We also learn that Josie apparently volunteers in hospice care, which I found funny and purposefully ironic. Lastly, we get to meet Josie’s boss named Stenholm. He’s a total jerk which Josie can tell. He shows up to their meeting late and does nothing but disrespect Josie. He does, however, bring up a good point that perhaps her family life is taking away from her other profession. It’s something that clearly troubles Josie, especially when we find out who her next target is.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed the debut of Lady Killer so much was that it was such a breeze to read. That said, I really liked this second installment for the opposite: it starts to dig a little deeper and things start to get more complicated in Josie’s already crazy life. The pacing may seem a bit odd to people with the action front-loaded but I think it was necessary to slam on the breaks and let us find out a little more about what’s going on. I really enjoyed this issue-the writing is great, the art is gorgeous-there really isn’t much not to like.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Joelle Jones, Jamie S. Rich Artist: Joelle Jones Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 2/4/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital