Review - Executive Assistant: Lotus #3

Aspen Comics' Hit List Agenda is nearing an end. How do I know? The handy checklist included at the end of every issue says so. There's one more issue of Violet and two more of Iris left and the publisher's summer crossover event will be done. The latest issue in that event if Executive Assistant: Lotus #3 and ties up the loose ends of, well, Lotus.

Writer Vince Hernandez is joined by illustrator Oliver Nome and colorists Emilio Lopez and David Curiel (letters by Josh Reed) in concluding the Lotus series. And it ends with a bang.

When we last left Lotus, she was smackdab in the middle of an Executive Assistant training school. She had just learned of her master Virat's portrayal and was facing her own demise. Or was she?

Frankly, I'm glad they allowed Lotus to hold her own against a sea of EAs. It wasn't as if she completely dominated them, but it was nice to see that she didn't immediately need the help of Iris. Her showing up was inevitable, since she's the penultimate EA, but her arrival actually made sense within the confines of the story. It felt natural that she showed up there, perhaps more natural than when she arrived to help Orchid. She was the property of Ching, whose death passed all his assets (including Iris) to Virat.

The bulk of the issue are the two of them--Lotus and Iris--cleaning house. The EA training school was no doubt to be used for rather nefarious purposes to do Virat's bidding, but by the end of the issue that seems to no longer be the case. The issue really seemed to be moving Iris into place for her grand finale. There's still one issue of Violet left, which will also feature Iris most likely. The ending to Lotus definitely adds a graver, big scheme twist that will most likely have all the EAs showing up in Executive Assistant: Iris #5.

The dialogue by Hernandez was pretty clean and the story easy to follow. The issue is violent, but compared to the other EAs there's not nearly as much gore and blood. Nome's pencils bounce back and forth between finely detailed and more generic, but it all works well for the issue. There were a few moments of confusion in distinguishing Lotus from Iris, primarily lending to the fact that their tactical garb was so similar and they wear the same straight, black hair for the most part. The coloring by Lopez and Curiel leans more towards the dark side, making some of the scenes in the just as dark warehouse a little hard to discern.

Overall, Executive Assistant: Lotus #3 is a satisfying conclusion to her arc. I still contend that Orchid is the most interesting character, but Lotus is the one whose master had the more global ambitions. It's worth checking out, if for nothing else to stay up with the Hit List Agenda.

The book should be in stores now.

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