I biffed on reviewing the last issue of Fight Like A Girl, but it’s actually probably for the better. It probably would have amounted to me saying, “I dig this story still and the art, oh man the art is pretty great!” The fact is, it’s still pretty much all I have to say about it because not much else has changed… or has it? As is the norm, each issue begins with a flashback with Amarosa and her boyfriend talking underneath what I can only assume is their favorite spot. In the last issue he messed up and so this time he’s brought a bouquet of roses to apologize. They talk and he basically asks her to at least tell her brother and ask for his thoughts on everything. Why is this important? Well, you’ll see.
For the third door Amarosa has no pick on which one she picks. Cute right? The gods have picked for her and her little assistant tells her that it will happen once more and that he can’t help her. She finds herself in space with a well-dressed whitehaired man sitting on a throne. He of course talks in riddles because Amarosa doesn’t quite get it. I think I get it, but I’ll save that for a minute. They battle and it’s revealing to say the least as her opponent questions her motivation for being there.
So if you don’t want to hear what I think is going on than skip this paragraph. I don’t think Amarosa is fighting people. I think she’s fighting herself. She’s fighting her own insecurities and personality hang-ups and maybe even her own sins. If and only if she can make it past herself will she succeed, but I think eventually she’s going to figure it out too and when she does… well when you know of our own flaw does that make it harder or easier to fix? That’s just my guess at least.
David Pinckney is really finding his stride, but my concern is that each issue is going to basically be the same thing over and over. Which is okay, but eventually that’s not going to be very satisfying. The problem is, usually when there’s a rinse and repeat element of the story the final stages get rushed through and the ending is focused on which never makes any sense to me. We’ve been told since the beginning that it’s only going to get harder so hopefully that’s not the case here, but then at the same time hopefully Pinckney keeps it fresh each time as well.
I like Amarosa as a character. I like her honesty and her raw emotions that she brings to the fights. I also like that even though her cause and intentions are noble, she still has a bit of a “bring it” attitude to the entire ordeal.
Soo Lee’s art really steals the show for me. My one and only gripe is that sometimes the book is just too dark. Especially in space there’s just not enough separation between the characters and the action from the background. It’s not unbearable and obviously I still think it’s wonderful to look at, but I would love to see something like Eric Powell uses on his art in which he almost adds a soft white stroke around the characters to make them pop out. Otherwise the action is great, the linework is beautiful and I can’t wait to see more for Lee in the years to come. I don’t know if this series is going to put her “on the map”, but it’s definitely put her on mine.
The third issue is good. Hopefully the story will reveal if I’m correct or not soon because the mystery has gone on long enough without a major hint. There’s a solid balance between the story and the art and I’m looking forward to finishing this series. Also, I still love that title: Fight Like A Girl.
Score: 3/5
Fight Like A Girl #3 Writer/Creator: David Pinckney Artist: Soo Lee Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/18/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital