Madame Mirage #5, 6
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Kenneth Rocafort
Colors by Imaginary Friends Studios
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; Available now

In Madame Mirage #5, it appears that Madame Mirage wants to join forces with her enemies at A.S.I., but that ruse is quickly blown and Harper/Madame Mirage has to beat a hasty retreat. We also get some insight into the duality/almost schizophrenic relationship between Harper Temple and her dead sister, Angie, whose visage and personality is what makes up Madame Mirage.

In the end, Harper/Madame Mirage launch an all out assault on a secret prison that holds their father but, as fate would have it, it turns out to be trap set by her super-merc enemies at A.S.I. and Harper/Madame Mirage is captured.

I must say that I know little of Paul Dini’s work beyond the episodes he wrote for the old Batman Animated series in the early 90s, but after reading Madame Mirage I can understand why he has the stellar reputation that he does. The writing here is top drawer comic book writing: snappy and unobtrusive to the art, which is what most people buy comic books for in the first place. And since I mentioned art, the art in this book (by Kenneth Rocafort) is also exceptional. It has an adult storybook quality that is quite cool and, of course as is the case in most Top Cow books, his women are beautifully, if a bit unrealistically, rendered. I understand that this is a big selling point as well, but c’mon, haven’t we gotten past the ridiculous, “balloon boobs” thing as of yet?

Issue #6 is the “season finale,” so to speak, and Harper finds herself in the dastardly clutches of A.S.I. Ultimately, she manages to escape and confront her two main enemies at the top of the A.S.I. food chain, Abraham Coyle/Purge and Robert Rhodes. One runs (Purge) and is apprehended and the other (Rhodes) she beheads with her sword. Why Harper, a cute-as-a-button tech geek, carries a goddamn medieval sword around in the first place is beyond me but, in my book, the only way to REALLY kill the final enemy in any milieu (movies, video games, comics, etc.) is to behead them. And there you have it. All’s well that ends well in comic book land…

Again, the storytelling and art here (by Dini and Rocafort) are first rate and truly make this book a pleasure to read. Out of the several comics I’ve reviewed here on Geeks of Doom in the past couple months I have to say that this is first that I would buy myself and will continue to buy when the series continues. Shit, I’ll even buy the collected trade paperback that I’m sure is soon to follow.

And that fact, in and of itself, speaks volumes, I think, because I’m a jaded and sarcastic bastard who is difficult to impress, especially when it comes to comics. So run, do not walk, to your local comic shop to pick up a copy of Madame Mirage. You will not be disappointed.