Review - Bad Girls #1

Typically, when villainous types get together, villainous things happen. There are four characters in the Zenescope universe that have the capacity to be quite villainous and it's these four ladies who unite in Bad Girls #1

Joey Esposito is the writer, with pencils by Rafael Lanhellas, Eduardo Garcia and Marco Cosentino, with colors by Jason Embury and Bruno Cotic and letters by Jim Campbell.

The Mistress of Limbo is up to no good, uniting Baba Yaga, the Goblin Queen and the Queen of Spades. The four of them are looking to wreak as much havoc as possible, their primary target being Sela. Who happens to be in jail at the time.

The crux of the evil, female quartet is to release a slew of goblins onto the world, ripping open portals all over. The goblins aren't just showing up to say hi either. They're proving to be quite brutal and merciless in their attacks. Sela and her new ally Nathan manage to contain some of the violence, but things quickly escalate further.

Esposito made the interesting choice of narrating the first issue primarily from Sela's point of view. It's an interesting plot device and gives the reader a bit more insight into her life and choices she's been forced to make. She's sort of resigned to her fate in prison, but that doesn't stop her from taking steps to prepare for battle when called upon.

The four villains are portrayed as rather nefarious, but the Queen of Spades probably has the most personality. She really comes across as a bit more playful than the others, as if she realizes the stakes of what they're doing and enjoys it even more.

The art in this issue is a little inconsistent. Not from a quality standpoint per se, but because there are three different artists, there are a few small, noticeable differences throughout. The styles of all three are similar enough that it's not too bad, but there are a few spots where you can see a slight artistic change.

Zenescope does a great job of folding everything into its universe, but at the end of the first issue it remains to be seen whether Bad Girls will play into continuity as a whole. It's an interesting premise for the series, giving some of Zenescope's bigger players a chance to, well, play.

Bad Girls #1 is available now.