4 out of 5

Saying this book is exactly what you’d expect from the title alone is… not a bad thing, if that title appeals. And the first few pages of art showing off Enrico Marini’s square-jawed men, busty, hourglass women, and the red-highlights-on-greyscale-watercolor visual scheme don’t mislead: it looks exactly like this throughout.

So you get dames, and double-crosses, and beatdowns, and some tossed about cultural stereotypes and casually oppressive language, and a sultry dance number, and lots of sex, and lots of bloody action… it’s the pulpiest of noir, alright, befitting the Hard Case Crime banner. But let’s not forget the ‘burlesque’ part of the title, the kayfabe of cheesecake: Burlesque Noir proves to have some more layers beneath the surface of its genre, self-aware without being kitsch. I wouldn’t classify it as subversive or “smart,” mind you, but it’s incredibly satisfying when our tuff guy silver fox lead, actually called ‘Slick’ – a con forced to do one last job for the mob boss with whom he wants to break ties – proves to have a personality and background, and when the dames become people beyond their pouting and sex scenes, and even that mob boss has conversations to remind us he’s human… This is the appealing magic of Marini’s tale: it injects some normalcy into the pulpy extremes, which underlines and betters its comedic and dramatic elements. I think this is also indirectly represented in Marini’s use of pop color: while I initially found it kind of annoying that anything red gets highlights, as opposed to more purposeful spotting like the femme fatale’s hair, or splashes of blood, this is maybe also indicative of Burlesque Noir’s reminders of reality: like, right, it’s just a color.

There are some balancing issues in the narrative: Slick’s undertaking of the “last job” doesn’t come until halfway thriugh the book, and yet it doesn’t feel developed enough as a plot point (it doesn’t feel like a big deal), but also feels equally rushed. This is partially due to Slick’s relationship with the female lead, Caprice, and Marini’s desire to include the pulpiest smooches and sex; some big, splash-pagey visual swings are taken, and we maybe needed more pages to sell that stuff. But I think you also easily get the gist of what Marini is aiming for, and we allow some tonal flightiness because the art looks so damn good.

…As does the book itself, from Titan, printed oversized in a hardcover with thick, flippable pages that show off the watercolors well.

A great entry into the HCC comic universe, syncing with their better book efforts that do the genre proud while also offering a fresh, fun perspective.