Originally posted on Irish Comic News (28/Mar/2017)
Off Girl #1
Written by Tina Fine.
Art by Mark Reihill.
Lettering by Mark Reihill.Off Girl #1 – “Freak” introduces Julia Davenport, aka Off Girl, to the world. An introductory paragraph inside the front cover gives a brief overview of the world of Off Girl as follows:
Julia Davenport knew something was wrong, very wrong. You see, there seemed to be a connection with her orgasms and men dying. So she took meds and faked her O’s. But one unfortunate day, something went terribly wrong. And that set her off on a journey to becoming NYC’s newest superhero “Off Girl”.
Even after reading that introduction, and considering the cover art, I still was unsure what I should expect from the comic. Would it be innuendo loaded spoof of superhero comics or something else?
Turns out it the answer was something else. The story does a good job in giving us a sense of Julia’s character. It also introduces a serial killer called Stiletto, which seems to be a bit of foreshadowing of things to come in the series.
I did enjoy how the story went in the middle of the comic where events begin to conspire against Julia to push her to breaking point and ultimately reveal how her powers manifest. You can almost feel her frustration at not being able to get herself off for fear of killing someone.
Fine writes a good opening issue with some funny moments and dialogue throughout the comic. Two things did puzzle me though. The first was what is Julia being treated for by the doctor? It’s a bit ambiguous as to whether she is being treated in an attempt to control her power or if it’s for something else. The other was when Julia tells her friend about the recent manifestation of her powers. Her friend seems totally unfazed by the news Julia’s power killed a number of people. That said, I’m certainly curious to see how things play out. So bravo to Fine as I want to know what happens next.
Art and lettering is done by the other half of the creative team, Mark Reihill. I have to say this is a good looking comic with some good visual storytelling. The art on the manifestation of Off Girl’s powers was well done. There was a definite sense of imminent danger as a result of the artwork. I did find the use of grey for the skin colour of the characters as a bit of a strange choice. It’s not a colour that would come to mind to convey energy, vitality or (to borrow from my English teacher) the fire you would associate with sexual release. It does however work well with the colours that are used throughout the comic, especially the darker reds.
Overall this was an enjoyable comic even though I was somewhat apprehensive given the ‘hook’ to the comic. There’s some good stuff there that will be interesting to see how it develops, both in terms of the story and the artwork. I’m very curious to see how Off Girl’s powers are used once as she learns to control them. The Stiletto character also looks promising as a potential nemesis for Off Girl.