Noir Burlesque
A former soldier, Terry “Slick” Cole is not a good man. He is, however, good at what he does: following orders and inflicting violence. Slick returned home after World War II hoping to find Debbie, the girl he left behind to serve his country. Seven years later, she’s going by Caprice Hollow and is the hottest burlesque performer in New York. She’s also engaged to Rex McKinty, the club owner and crime boss that Slick is reluctantly working for to pay off his brother-in-law’s gambling debts.
When Slick refuses to take a more permanent position as a problem solver for Rex, he finds himself with a price on his head. The fact that Caprice tracked him down to kiss him may have also been a factor in that. Now, with the cops leaning on him to help them take down Rex, and Rex offering to forgive everything in exchange for Slick sticking it to the mob boss who killed his father, Slick has some hard questions to ask. Chief among them being if he can win back the woman he never stopped loving or if he can trust Caprice to help him save his sister and nephew from Rex McKinty and his gang.
Noir Burlesque is a love letter to the noir thriller. Writer/Artist Enrico Marini spins a lurid tale of the dark city. A place where a man has no currency but his good name and a code of honor. Exactly what is honorable, however, may differ from man to man. The same man who considers his family to be everything may think nothing of quietly hiring a working girl to do the things his wife will not. There are no white-hat wearing heroes in noir tales—just varying shades of gray.
Talking of grays, Marini’s art generally mimics the visual feel of a film noir. The art is largely monochromatic, with occasional flashes of red adding color to the world. This includes the crimson hair of Caprice, the occasional dress of the women around Slick, a flashy car, and the striped shirt worn by Slick’s nephew. This adds a stunning contrast to the world at large, often symbolizing the few things that seem to give Slick’s life meaning.
Titan Comics rates Noir Burlesque as being appropriate for readers 17 and up. I believe this to be a fair and accurate rating. While the general aesthetic of this comic resembles a 1940s Warner Bros. crime drama, there is no Hays Code to keep this clean for general audiences.
Caprice’s burlesque act is vividly illustrated and she appears on-stage wearing nothing but a sensual smirk and tassels. She wears even less in Slick’s dreams, where the only colors featured are the red of her hair and the pink of her nipples. There is also ample violence and four-letter-words James Cagney was never allowed to use. While this is truer to the spirit of the original Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler novels that inspired it, audiences expecting a sanitized cinematic noir story should beware. Genre enthusiasts, however, will find Noir Burlesque to be a spirited take on the classic formulas.
Noir Burlesque
By Enrico Marini
Titan, 2023
ISBN: 9781787739956
Publisher Age Rating: 17+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
