Created, Written, & Illustrated by John B. Lai
Published by Ultimate Comics Group
In this second chapter to Industrial Revolution, our lady on the scene Stiletto is caught between the Nazi-esque "Gak-Sho", led by the excessively violent Lord Gakler, and the rebel forces of the "Pak-Wan", led by King Popo. Forced by what she sees to aid what is clearly the lesser of two evils, this looks to be the stickiest mess yet for the energetic, intergalactic stripper/lawyer/heroine.
As the aliens get nastier and naughtier, the subject matters continue to spiral downward for Stiletto and Rigby, when all they want is to just find there way home. With a war raging through most of this issue, Lai leaves us with a great new twist, thereby surreptitiously pulling this entire saga into the UCG universe. While these characters are indeed a far cry from the much more clean superheroes this publisher is otherwise known for, the innuendo at just how indepth this megaverse is, is interesting. While Lai has worn multiple creative hats before, his writing skills do seem to include more than a little sneakiness.
The feel of the art continues to attract. It dawned on me that the style he has been reaching for serves as a bridge between the better days of Heavy Metal magazine onto something specifically aimed for the video game generation of today. The imagination and the delivery are just so much fun, I really cannot think of any other current or recent comics that this might possibly be compared to. The style of the illustrations calls to mind Scott McCloud's theory regarding the separation of character and environment. A generally animated look is presented here, with a surprising mix between the pseudo-realism of Stiletto and her occasional ladyfriends and allies, and the brushy, even scribbly look of many of the settings and assorted lesser characters; except here we also have an astounding display of coloring and digital effects that blanket every single frame with a unique and vibrant look all its own.
This comic series is adults-only, as it does contain quite a bit of nudity, crazy levels of exploding spaceships and lazers blasting folks into droplets of alien goo, as well as many an impolite word. Is Stiletto for everyone? No. But for those mature and open-minded enough for such graphic content and looking for something striving (and succeeding) at originality, this ongoing comic book is one hellaciously enjoyable read.
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