(Submitted by Mr. Prince Adam…Much appreciate your thoughts on this, Kinky Ho-mie! 🙂 xoxo)

“When a college undergrad decides to stay in and study, she will find that another seemingly inconsequential decision she makes will have a lasting effect on her.”

I’m just going to come out and say it; this was the worst of the three issues I’ve read so far.  It’s kind of a mess narratively. It starts out with two girls in an algebra class discussing going to a frat party to score some hot college guys, in the hopes of getting laid. The scene then shifts to a student expressing her troubles with the class.  Her professor asks her to stay after class and essentially sexual propositions her in exchange for higher grades.  The student storms out of the class and literally runs into our mysterious Red Headed Lady of Death from the previous two issues, who dissuades the student from sexually engaging with the professor.  As I watched this unfold, I instantly thought the professor was going to either turn out to be a killer, or be killed. And if he was killed, it’d be at the hands of our “Lady of Death.” With that thought planted in my head, the book transitions to the dorm of the other two girls from the class, who were debating going to the frat party.  While one girl decides to  stay in and study, Ann goes out and parties the night away.  During that time, Ann’s studious roommate is approached in the hallway by the janitor, and a creepy conversation about an ongoing campus murder spree among female students occurs. Ann arrives back at her dorm room with a guy, but refuses his advances, because her roommate is inside sleeping,  When she arrives inside, she turns on the lights to find her roommates throat slashed and writing in blood on the walls.  Without question, I thought it was the janitor.  Instead of going further into solving this mystery, the book jumps forward several months. Once again Anne and her new roommate are dressed to impress and off to another frat house party. However, Ann insists on leaving shortly after getting there, as she is still struggling with the death of her first roommate. When they get back to the apartment, in an unexpected twist, it is revealed that Ann is the killer, as she slits her current roommates blood and begins writing on the wall with the blood. After the creepy janitor hears a commotion and catches her in the act,  the authorities are called in and Ann is locked in an insane asylum. As for our sexual predator college professor from the issues beginning of the book, he’s continually sexually propositioning female students in exchange for better grades.  So the “Red Headed Lady of Death” orchestrated a deadly wet floor fall to the ground for our perverted educator.

Come to think of it, I actually like the misdirection as to who the killer was going to be,  Toggling between the professor and the janitor in my head, kept me engaged in the story.  Even the twist that Ann was the killer, was unexpected and very intriguing. However, I thought the reveal happened in too much of an abrupt way. So much so, that I had a; “Huh, What the F**K” reaction, instead of a “Holy Shit! What an awesome twist” reaction.  It is assumed by the media in the story that Ann had Multiple Personality Disorder. That’s a believable reason as to why she’d kill her roommates and not remember doing it, however, the writer never bothers to explain what causes or triggers her personality changes. The only two things both murders have in common, is the writing on the wall and what each roommate says to her before the frat parties. On the wall after both murders, she writes; “aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the lights.” When Ann asks her roommates how she looks before each party, they respond with; “she looks like a cross between a hooker and a porn star.”  So either, Ann has a fear or averse reaction to turning on lights, or her murderous personality resents being compared to a hooker or a prostitute?  Damned if I know because Meredith Finch doesn’t give enough to clarify at all. What has become clear by the time you read this third issue, is that our mysterious red headed lady, only arranges it so that that vile deplorable people are killed.  If you look back, issue 1 she killed the dog hating bitchy lady, in issue 2 she kills the greedy, self-absorbed, duplicitous antique collector and in issue 3, she kills the professor. I love this distinction about her. As a reader, you actually cheer for her to take out these creeps.

The art is drawn by Milton Estevam.  The art is once again very similar in look to the other two issues.  That’s great for continuity’s sake and in that sense I like it.  On the other hand, that “sameness” prevents each artist from putting their own style or stamp on their work.  As I mentioned several times, the book mentions that Ann looks like a cross between a hooker and a porn star.  When you look at the art, that comparison is apt.  That shouldn’t be a negative. I see it as a positive. Porn stars take a lot of time and do a lot of work to make sure they always look fantastic and represent the ultimate dream girls. The creepy horny professor definitely looked like a grade A creep!  Come to think of it, he looks like a cross between Robert Knepper from “Prison Break” and “Heroes” and Kurtwood Smith from “That 70’s Show.”  The murder scenes are bloodthirsty and  the epitome of what great slasher films should strive for.  Credit goes to colorist Marcio Freire for balancing the drippy blood look and a splotchy blood look. I also loved that brief moment where the mysterious red haired lady’s eyes turned red, when she discovered what the professor was up to.  It hints that she could very well be otherworldly in nature, or at the very least has some magical/mystical properties to her.

Without question, this is my least favourite issue in this series.  Despite being my least favourite, I still enjoyed it.  If all of the not so good comics I’ve read could still be as enjoyable as this issue, comic books would never disappoint me.  Next issue teases the possibility of revealing more information about our “Mysterious Red Headed Lady.”  I hope they do, so I can call the character by her actual name, instead of this long winded place holder.