Review - Kim and Kim: Love is a Battlefield #1 (@blackmaskstudio)

"And we're back."

Intergalactic criminals often end up in situations that require them to be flexible and adapt to the changing situations. Those situations can result in some relatively harmless hijinks along the way, but when love is thrown into the mix everything is amplified. In Kim and Kim: Love is a Battlefield #1 from Black Mask Studios, love IS a battlefield. The issue is written by Magdalene Visaggio, penciled and inked by Eva Cabrera, colored by Claudia Aguirre and lettered by Zakx Saam.

The Fighting Kims finally get the bounty of their lives and Kim D reconnects with an ex-girlfriend, so of course everything immediately goes catastrophically wrong. This high-flying, rad AF tale of exes and woes is the first in a four-part follow-up to 2016's summer favorite. Awesome!

Visaggio wastes no time getting into the thick of things in Kim and Kim: Love is a Battlefield #1 by essentially opening up in the middle of the titular characters working their latest gig. That gig has them chasing down a target for an item, but that really just serves as the means of reacquainting the reader with the two main characters. Visaggio spends most of the issue focusing on their relationship in general and how external factors affect the pairing of Kim and Kim. The dialogue between the two is entertaining and amusing, providing a glimpse into their romantic relationship that serves as the underpinning for the series as a whole. Juxtaposing their turbulent relationship with their "professional" life is an interesting way to delve into both, but Visaggio intertwines the two together well.

Cabrera's artwork is a great fit for the tone of the book. There's an airiness to the book's tone that is supplemented well by the characters defined by clean and concise linework on the part of Cabrera. Her style is cartoonish in some ways, but it works very well for bringing the reader to Kinna alongside Kim and Kim to experience it's constant club atmosphere. The panels are laid out in primarily a grid fashion that's pretty standard, save for a few panels that seem to push back and forth against one another that perhaps symbolizes the push/pull of relationships. Aguirre's colors are extremely vivid and vibrant, infusing the book with a neon vibe.

Kim and Kim: Love is a Battlefield #1 picks right up where the first left off and drops the reader into the middle of a reckless joyride. Kim and Kim are in the thick of things yet again, only this time their relationship is going to get as much attention as their capers. Visaggio infuses the characters with some of her own personal life in a way that makes them more relatable. The artwork by Cabrera is fantastic and lends a bubbly sensibility to the proceedings. Kim and Kim: Love is a Battlefield #1 is a lot of fun and aims to delve into a variety of dynamics between the two main characters.

Kim and Kim: Love is a Battlefield #1 is available now.