Writer & Letterer: Erica Schultz
Artist: Carola Borelli
Colorists: Gab Contreras & Tom Chu
Cover Artists: Adriana Melo & Cris Peter
Publisher: Image
Price: April 12, 2023
Release Date: $16.99
Poppy awakens early in the morning, the day after
Valentine's Day. She picks up her ringing phone on her bedside table. Her
sister Rose tells her that their mother died. She's just found Jasmine’s bloody
body on the floor of her flower shop. What happens next? Let’s dig into The
Deadliest Bouquet trade paperback and find out!
Story
Poppy flies from California to New Jersey to comfort her
sister. That evening, their remaining sister Violet arrives from Europe. While
the police discuss the evidence—and a tattoo on Jasmine Hawthorne's hand—the
sisters try to cope with their loss. Instead, childhood issues arise. They
nearly come to blows, and Rose throws a knife to prevent Violent Vi from
storming out. Poppy's husband arrives, accompanied by children Aster and Holly.
As an attorney, Derek Winterberry wants to help. But Poppy wants him and the
children to stay at the hotel. Her mother's death brings back memories of her
abusive father and how he died.
Their obsessive mother trained them in self-defense. Like Gamora
and Nebula, competition and family dynamics drove them apart. Poppy tried to
remake her life by marrying Derek and moving across the United States. While
she’s raising two fun-loving children, Poppy’s secretive nature leads to
constant arguments with Derek. Violet left home even earlier, and her violent
life remains a secret. As in the parable of the Prodigal Son, Rose remained at
home to assist her mother in the Hawthorne flower shop. She blames Poppy and
Violet for abandoning her, forcing her to play caregiver to their troubled
mother.
The Deadliest Bouquet trade paperback also introduces us to
Police Detective Bayani and Officer Gutierrez. Their investigation into
Jasmine’s death will raise questions about an unresolved murder twenty years
ago, as both bullets came from a Nazi pistol. While I wish I'd seen more of
these two, Erica Schultz keeps her sights on Poppy, Rose, and Violet. She
interweaves present-day discussions and fights with poignant and painful
flashbacks that show why the girls grew up as damaged--and yet as strong--as
they've become. It's a talky book, but the drama never seemed overdone. The
story speaks to essential truths regarding family dynamics and behaviors that
lead to dysfunctional ones. Plus, while these three little girls never went to
the Police Academy, they've mastered enough self-defense techniques to work for
Charles Townsend. They display those many times in The Deadliest Bouquet
Paperback.
Art
While the story is set in 1992--during the years in which
the British comedy Keeping Up Appearances aired--Rose and Violet look nothing
like Hyacinth Bucket's sisters. They may have the same names, but Violet's slim
features and flowing hair resemble a supermodel. She's also got a supermodel's
prima donna temperament and outlook. Rose's hairstyle kept reminding me of
Wilma Flintstone, the woman Lister and Cat (aboard the Jupiter Mining
Corporation’s Red Dwarf) called The Most Desirable Woman Who Ever Lived. Poppy
resembles your typical Got It Together mom, even if that gradually proves
untrue.
The rest of Carola Borelli's characters are attractive if
drawn with less verve and personality. The exception is Jasmine Hawthorn, who
often appears slightly unhinged and appears in flashbacks. The family house
reminded me of the Halliwell sisters' Victorian San Francisco home on TV's
Charmed. The home's interiors--and glimpses of New Jersey--always appealed.
Overall, the art suggests an Archie comic or a daily newspaper strip.
Gab Contreras & Tom Chu paint The Deadliest Bouquet
Trade Paperback with bright and bold colors. Their broad palettes combine well,
and the characters stand out. Shadows and highlights lend realism. Indoor
lights glow. Numerous flashbacks, while faded, are equally attractive. One
could argue the differences between Contreras' first three issues and Chu's #4
and 5, but they're minor.
Apart from an abandoned subplot and an abrupt ending, my
main complaint is with Erica Schultz's lettering. Her uppercase lettering may
be too small for easy reading in print. I like how she embeds sound effects
like Sniff and Koff into her dialogue balloons and how she suggests intonation
with bold letters. Still, I wish she had not frequently faded the already-small
lettering for lowered voices. What should have proven a triumph--matching
offscreen dialogue with a flower and matching border color in rectangular
dialogue balloons—kept confusing me. The yellow flowers belonged to Rose, yet I
kept linking them with Violet's hair. I also wished she had made the red poppy
orange, symbolic of Poppy’s adoptive state. (I kept confusing flowers with
sisters as I wrote this. Hopefully, I stated all this correctly). Still, I had
no trouble linking the orange shield with Detective Bayani, and Shultz’s frequent
sound effects enhanced her story.
Final Thoughts
Family secrets and dysfunctional relationships lead to
tragedy for the three sisters in The Deadliest Bouquet Trade Paperback. Erica
Schultz and company deliver a buoyant story filled with likable and relatable
characters that—while probing and truthful—never loses momentum to sink into a
pool of misery.
Rating 8/10
To view more cover art from the series see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
