Review by Andy Williams

An all-female trio of assassins are drawn out of retirement when one of their children is abducted in this fun romp that’s a mash-up of Charlie’s Angels and Kill Bill. The Assassinistas are Octavia “Red October” Price, Charlotte “Scarlet” Dacosta and Rosalyn “Blood” Diamond. Former inductees of a survivalist sex cult, they used their skills to become a successful international hit squad. Flashbacks show the team on various assignments and how the cracks in their relationship begin to appear.

The story resumes some years hence, with Octavia now selling insurance, Charlotte expecting her second child and Rosalyn has been off the radar for a number of years. Octavia is uncompromising in her approach to life and finds it hard adjusting to a “normal” routine. This impacts on her personal life, particularly with her college-age son, Dominic, and his father, Carlos. Charlotte has settled into domesticity as a wife and mother, but when her young son, Kyler, is abducted she enlists Octavia, Dominic and his boyfriend, Taylor, to rescue the boy.

There’s some good interplay here from writer Tini Howard, predominantly between Octavia and the other characters. She has the vibe of a former Blaxploitation heroine: think Pam Grier softened from her Foxy Brown heyday to a Jackie Brown world-weariness. There’s a refreshingly sweet relationship between Dominic and Taylor that’s not exploitative or sensationalistic, and while the flashback sequences add a thin layer of mystery to the straightforward plot, the twists are obvious rather than intriguing.

The art by Love and Rockets supremo Gilbert Hernandez is at the higher end of his more recent output, clear and unflashy, almost minimalistic at times. Although some action scenes could benefit from a more dynamic approach, his strength lies in designing characters of various ethnic backgrounds, making them distinctive while avoiding oblatant stereotypes. He also seems to add a touch more flair to his work outside his L&R ouvre.

All in all, an entertaining if predictable tale that mixes 1970’s action with a light sprinkle of Tarantino’s quirkier sensibilities. There’s some promising character work that leaves the door open for further development in any future stories. Howard’s main theme seems to be that motherhood and bad-assery go hand in hand, that having a child shouldn’t resign you to a life of domestic drudgery. Assassinistas are doing it for themselves but, sometimes, the family can help out too.