Dark Horse Comics
November 2013
Four issue mini-series
You know when you were a kid, and you and your buddies used to get into stuff that you would to hide from your parents? Nothing illegal or anything, just things you KNEW you would be better off not letting them know about? Yeah, your folks don’t need to know you read CLOWN FATALE.
CLOWN FATALE is the sweet little story about four modest young ladies who go to church and only use nice language…wait a sec. Hold on…
Ok. CLOWN FATALE is the nasty story about four sexy babes who work as clowns in a crap traveling circus. They hang out in sexy clothes, smoke dope, and get into fights every other night. Oh yeah, and they swear a lot. But they’re really nice gals at heart. It’s just that one night, when they happen to be at their lowest, they are approached by local lowlife Wayne Talbot. Seems Talbot has the foursome confused with a group of mercenaries he was supposed to meet up with at the circus. (Because that’s where you meet up with mercenaries.) The gals are feeling trapped by their lot in life, and $50,000 sure would make things a whole lot sweeter.
How bad is life as a circus clown? One of my favorite pages in the book has the group confronted by a bratty little redheaded kid. The kid is pissed because the clowns are off duty and won’t do any tricks. He throws his soda at the girls and yells, “I spent my whole allowance at this shitty circus. BE FUNNY, CLOWNS!” Needless to say, this leads to one of the every-other-night fights. It’s a sidesplittingly funny sequence brought to life by artist Maurizio Rosenzweig and inker/colorist Moreno Dinisio.
Rosenzweig’s work is new to me, but now I can’t imagine Chloe, Candy, Tina, and Aya portrayed by anyone else. His work is detailed and just exaggerated enough to show the unreality of life in the circus. Also, he draws the hell out of a cheesecake shot.
And that writer-guy, Victor Gischler? Yeah, he brings the goods. CLOWN FATALE is the second creator-owned comic that Gischer has produced. Both Fatale and KISS ME, SATAN are put out by Dark Horse Comics. Both are fantastic and both belong on your comic shop pull list.
Fast, funny, and a whole lot raunchy, CLOWN FALTALE is that perfect concoction of Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! mixed with four color funny books. So go! Buy it now. Just don’t tell your parents.
Dan Malmon
