Slaughter Dollz #4 is a comic written and illustrated by Steve Messenger. Bunny is facing multiple murder charges while Kitty finds herself stranded in Snowfall. This is a science fiction drama comic with strong violence, supernatural elements, tight clothes, and a very dark atmosphere. The first leading lady we see is Butcher Bunny, real name Bella Baisley. She was the less-sane half of a criminal killing duo and after some near-death events she now finds herself facing 75 counts of murder. Spooky Von Kat/Kitty, real name Danni Dunbar, is the more calculated member of this murderous twosome and she’s racing against the clock to put a stop to Ivan’s plans. Ivan is a powerful and rich genius with a grudge against his grandfather who uses gene manipulation(that he himself was subjected to) and advanced technology to transform people and turn them into violent, ruthless, and mind controlled  slaves. This story begins with Bunny stepping out of a police van in the rain and walking into the Carlisle Criminal Asylum. She begins to ruminate on the problems she already sees in this place like pervert guards, and forceful nurses, but her main thoughts are about wondering where Kat is and waiting for her to save her. Meanwhile Kat is in Snowfall surrounded by monstrous people. This takes place in the modern world of 2024 with most things being similar to the real world. The action here is destructive and there is some blood but this is easily the least violent issue in this series. Pacing here is overall a bit slower than average as there is a lot to read and take in but there are some speedier sections. This has a dark and slightly gritty atmosphere with a slight Sin City/X-Men vibe. There is a lot of intense and revealing drama here with the violence playing a supporting role. The dialogue here is aggressive, angry, and loud with a lot of back-and-forth and some rare narration from Bunny. There aren’t any word-heavy pages here. This is a revealing and riveting installment that gives us more on the characters of Bunny and Kat as they both attempt to get through tense situations where the odds are stacked against them.

            The art here is drawn in a smoothly detailed, rough, gritty style that is reminiscent of comics form the 90’s with realistic lighting and heavy shading. This has an overall dark color palette but there are consistently bright tones on every page. Though a significant amount of this takes place outdoors we don’t see much natural scenery outside of some trees; we will see rain and snow. There are three main locations here: the streets of Snowfall, Ivan’s Tower, and the Carlisle Criminal Asylum with different areas being visited form the showers to the cells. Backgrounds here usually show the actual surroundings but sometimes it’ll be a fuzzy gradient. The expression level here is high as these characters tend to have strong reactions to everything that goes on. Emotions are primarily aggressive with a lot of rage and anger but there is a decent bit of fear and shock. Faces have an overall above-average of detail especially in the eyes and mouths with most looks being clear. There is some face sameness here among the women but you shouldn’t get them confused. Firearms, blades, and drones are the weapons we’ll see. Violence can get pretty physical with some hard hits and a little bit of blood. There is one lengthy action scene that has unique sequencing and angle variety. The women look like models and have impossibly small waists and large chests; they also tend to wear very tight and revealing outfits.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like science fiction drama that star mainly women in tight outfits and features supernatural elements and a dark, grittyish atmosphere then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, blood, lewdness, nudity.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“You are rambling all of this to the man in the hat.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevemessengerart/slaughter-dollz-four/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 32

Violent Pages: 10, for 31% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 5, for 16% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 2

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”