By Dustin Cabeal

There is absolutely no joy in giving a bad review to the first issue of a new imprint. Frankly, it sucks to do that, but that’s what I’m here to do. At its core, the story here is fascinating. The era and setting are all things that are fairly new to American comics, at least from the vast majority of titles I’ve read. It’s just that Mata Hari actively makes it difficult for the reader to understand what exactly is going on in the story. Reading the first issue feels more like a punishment than something joyous or entertaining.