Writer: Zachary unchar
Artist: Mendoza
Publisher: Bluewater Comics

Insane Jane probably has more in common with Ben 10 than the Painkiller lady who shares her name. This book is not edgy, it’s not dark, it’s not gritty. What it is though, is a whole lot of fun.

Insane Jane focuses on our heroine, Jane and her struggle to not only fit in, but be a good person within a calloused world. A big superhero and comic book fan, Jane tries and tries to fit in, but lacking the confidence to be “one of the girls” or get the cute boy at the pet store, she seems doomed to stick to her rut in life. Then she foils a bank robbery, and finds her confidence and popularity soaring. This causes her to don a costume and become The Avenging Star!

If it sounds familiar, it probably should. This is loosely a gender-reversed version of Kick-Ass, the current Mark Millar/John Romita Jr book from Icon. What makes Insane Jane different from it’s mature-readers-only cousin, is that it is a much more cartoony and light book. Hunchar takes the same principles of the lonely loser who dons the tights story, but puts them not in the dark, gritty setting of “reality” but in a bright, slick and fun cartoon world that makes the story feel more like an adventure than social commentary. Personally, I think this is a great move because, with all due respect to Kick-Ass, I think Insane Jane is just way more fun because it doesn’t take itself so seriously.

The art in this book is fantastic. The singularly named Mendoza does a great job of emoting his characters within a very cartoony style, something that is usually over looked. He and colorist Mike Clausen also make the brilliant move of putting everything in the book in black and greyscale, with the exception of Jane herself. This highlights the alienation and loneliness that Jane feels. Mendoza’s panel layouts are also brilliant, serving to forward not only the story, but amplify the excitement and speed of the action scenes.

Insane Jane’s cover and title might be a bit misleading, but I was happily surprised with that I found within. When I finished this book, there was a smile on my face, and in the end that’s what a good book does. I can’t wait for Issue #2!

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Tags: Bluewater Comics, Indie Book, Insane Jane

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 12:20 am and is filed under Indie Book of The Week, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.