REVIEW: 'Jennifer Blood: Battle Diary' #1 by Fred Van Lente, Robert Carey, and Dearbhla Kelly

 

JENNIFER BLOOD: BATTLE DIARY #1

Writer: Fred Van Lente

Artist: Robert Carey, Dearbhla Kelly

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Release Date: November 29, 2023

Cover Price: $4.99

Everybody's favorite suburban wife, mother, and covert assassin - created by comics author extraordinaire GARTH ENNIS (The Boys, Battlefields, Preacher, The Punisher, Hitman) - returns for an all-new tale of extralegal killing and ruthless vigilantism!

Following the grisly events of Bloodlines, the woman formerly known as Jessica Blute - a.k.a. Jen Fellows, a.k.a. Jennifer Blood - finds herself involved with a new class of criminals. This one-woman bane of organized crime is supposedly dead and buried, and that's exactly what she wants the world to think. Now, however, a visit to her original penitentiary gravesite puts Blood in the crosshairs of a vicious prison gang - one that has no idea of what's about to hit them!

Written by FRED VAN LENTE (Marvel Zombies) and illustrated by ROBERT CAREY (The Outsiders), Jennifer Blood: Battle Diary #1 also features killer covers from artists JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER, LESLEY "LEIRIX" LI, and REBECA PUEBLA! 

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

The down-and-dirty action series returns with a new mini, 'Jennifer Blood: Battle Diary' by Fred Van Lente,  Robert Carey, and Dearbhla Kelly. The new series is a great gateway into the bloody world of Jennifer Blood, the relentless and deadly vigilante. A new assignment allows her to reconcile with her dearly departed mother as she visits her grave and conveniently addresses her journaling as a coping method (thus the "battle diary" in the title) while providing the reader all the exposition and backstory they need. It's really well executed and that leads to the action at hand. 

She has to transport a woman out of the cemetery and back to her crew. Jennifer gets embroiled in a scheme involving a deadly biker gang and all bets are off. The series has always embraced the attitude of action movies of the 80s - a steely-eyed angel of vengeance out to make the bad guys pay at all costs. A blood bath usually follows but not without a cheeky catchphrase thrown in. 'Jennifer Blood' has been a treasure of violent retribution against organized crime to the delight of comic fans for a long time. Here, the build-up is slower but still compelling. A sort of 'Justified' meets Taylor Sheridan's approach filled with odd and dangerous characters that can't be trusted but Jennifer dives in nonetheless. Van Lente does a great job of drawing readers in as the mysterious assignment unfolds and takes a darker turn. 

Robert Carey's designs are good overall although some of the characters can appear stiff. Yet, the framing of scenes has noirish qualities in the sun-soaked southwestern landscape colored by Kelly. Surprisingly, there isn't a lot of action and that's probably by design. Van Lente smartly establishes the story and the stakes with the promise of more violence down the road. What action and violence there is handled well by Carey's choreography and composition. 

'Jennifer Blood: Battle Diary' is a good entry point for new readers who love old-fashioned action thrillers filled with gunplay, revenge, and tough-as-nails characters. This is for fans who like their action bloody, moody, with an attitude, and an elevated sense of campiness.