Written by Brian Schirmer
Illustrated by Claudia Balboni
Colored by Marissa Louise, with Lesley Atlansky
Lettering/Design by David Bowman
Cover A by Jeremy Saliba
Cover B by Katie Longua
Fairlady Case File by Dani Colman
Edits by Dani Colman & Jeremy Saliba
Fairlady Created by Brian Schirmer & Claudia Balboni
In This Issue: Samanda Messilis, a woman Jenner has helped in the past, has been implicated in a series of murders. One of the fatalities was a Constable, which instantly gets Camershon and the Constabulary involved. Romar Darry, a Fairman, is also on the case. Jenner, who found Samanda after the woman had fled from her former employer (from whom she had stolen some money,) isn’t convinced that Samanda would have it in her to kill—let alone to kill three people. When she found Samanda, Jenner had taken her to The Village, a safe haven for the troubled of mind. Evidence points to the killings having been perpetrated by someone in a mad rage, but there was no reason for that. Samanda was free to come and go as she pleased. Her door was unlocked. Why kick it open? Samanda’s former employer was also found dead—mauled–by what was apparently a magic dagger. Guests of The Village give up their possessions voluntarily—where would a magic dagger be available? And since none of the witnesses to the incident at The Village can say for sure that the figure they saw come out of Samanda’s room was Samanda, who’s to say that it wasn’t someone—or something—else? Nothing is adding up, except to point Jenner in the direction of herself. What if someone is doing this deliberately to get at her? And why?
My Two Cents: Issue #5 of Fairlady will be its last, at least as it stands currently, and what a way to close out a series! It’s possible tht we will never know who “They” actually are, and what they’re after. Jenner may be left bleeding out on top of that cliff for eternity. (But hey, at least she looks awesome doing it.) Sad as it is that this is the end of the line for our heroine, she got the same stellar treatment as she did in the first four issues of the series. Plot lines were tight, art and color were on point, dialogue was snappy. The pacing in issue #5 was appropriately frenetic, and though it could easily have gotten confusing since the chosen format this time around made several jumps in chronology, it miraculously did not. There was a cinematic quality to the art in this issue which suited the non-linear storytelling. We were also treated to more depth of character with Jenner than we had been previously, and that was a delightful insight, though sadly coming at a point where it won’t be continued. I know I’m not the only person who is going to miss Fairlady, but I’m certainly glad for the issues we have!