Wicked Things is not a comic book series I picked up when it first came out. I had never even heard about it, let alone knew what it was about, until a friend at a local comic book store - who knows how much I love children's mystery series, and in particular, girl detectives - recommended the book, telling me the comic is about a girl detective who is trying to solve a mystery. Well, that was enough to entice me to hunt down all six issues of the mini-series so I could read the story. And frankly, these issues were not easy to find (at reasonable prices!). I searched all the comic stores in my area and was able to pick up a five of the six issues at either cover price or just a little over cover price. But, for whatever reason, trying to find issue 3 of the series was uber-difficult! But, I was patient, and eventually I had an eBay gift card that allowed me to get that elusive third issue, albeit for a bit more than I would have paid if it had been out of my own pocket! But at least it gave me the whole series so I could finally sit down and read it...
Wicked Things was created and written by John Allison, with art by Max Sarin. The comic tells the story of Charlotte Grote a/k/a "Lottie" to her mother, a young teen detective who has finished high school and is getting ready to go to university. Having grown up solving mysteries, like the "Case of the Jade Cartel," Charlotte believes herself to be one of the world's best teen detectives. But apparently the folks of mystery magazine, National Solver, never thought so - at least, not until this year, when she finally discovers she has been nominated for Teen Detective of the Year (16-18)!
While readers may be expecting the next five issues to find Charlotte looking for ways to solve the murder, Allison instead takes us in a totally unexpected direction. The police commissioner seems to know that Charlotte could not have possibly killed the detective; however, she offers Charlotte a chance to avoid jail - she is aware of Charlotte's penchant for solving mysteries, so instead of jail, Charlotte will have the opportunity to work with the police, assisting them with their cases. She relents, and finds that not only is she the most hated person in the department at the moment, but she is going to be living in a boarding house with other criminals who are "assisting" the police!
Allison builds the story naturally, with Charlotte's new job not exactly what she was expecting - instead of reviewing case files and figuring out clues, she is pouring coffee and doing minor errands. Even when she does figure out the solution to a crime that has yet to be solved, the officers refuse to believe she can be of any real assistance to them. But when they realize too late that she really did have the solution to the stolen tech, she suddenly finds herself being a part of a sting operation at a local casino, where a criminal gang is expected to make their next heist! Everything does not go as planned, however, and Charlotte discovers that someone she has come to trust has not only betrayed her, but masterminded the entire heist!
Of course, Allison did not forget the underlying mystery of who killed Miyamoto - while Charlotte is busy helping the police, Claire is on her own to try and figure out just who had it out for the Japanese detective and who had the means, motive, and opportunity to kill the man. This mystery takes a backseat to Charlotte's adventures, but we do get moments here and there in each issue as Clarie tries to narrow down her suspects. Unfortunately, Charlotte's sting operation at the casino gets a bigger climactic resolution that the whoddunit mystery involving Kendo Miyamoto. In fact, the murderer never actually gets unmasked (although Charlotte does get cleared, albeit in-between panels!). That was probably the only real let-down for me in the series, as I was hoping for a bigger revelation and an unmasking of the real killer, which never took place.
The art by Max Sarin is quite outstanding. It is a bit cartoonish (sort of like the Goldie Vance art, another girl detective series published by Boom! Studios), but it fits the book. Sarin certainly gives Charlotte character - from her times of stress and depression to her expressions of determination and deduction - Sarin manages to tell the reader exactly what Charlotte is feeling and thinking without any dialogue or text boxes needed. The backgrounds are, for the most part, simple, allowing the reader to stay completely focused on the story and not be led astray by overly-detailed backgrounds that draw the reader's eye away from the characters and word balloons. All-in-all, I think Allison and Sarin make an excellent combination for storytelling success!
I do hope that Boom! will allow Allison and Sarin to tell more adventures of Charlotte Grote, as I would definitely read them!! (Oh, and one last thing to mention - Charlotte's last name of Grote also happens to be the last name of Grace Grote, an author who worked with the Stratemeyer Syndicate back in the day, ghostwriting Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, among others ... coincidence or no? Hmmm......)
RATING: 9 butter and crumb-filled jars of jam out of 10 for introducing the world to another fantastic female sleuth, who proves she can solve crimes right up there with the best of them!
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