REVIEW: Marjorie Finnegan - Temporal Criminal #1

By Larry Jorash — Taking us from Ancient Egypt through Middle Ages Scandanavia, Marjorie Finnegan - Temporal Criminal #1 is a new time travel comic, out this week from AWA Studios. And with it, fans of classic heroines like Lara Croft, Red Sonja and Dejah Thoris have a new sex-appeal driven femme fatale to cheer on, complete with an ensemble of the expected attire, which is mostly just undergarments and swimwear.

This book is written by industry heavyweight Garth Ennis, he of Punisher, The Boys, and Preacher fame. This, however, is not Ennis’ strongest work. The story is a bit predictable at points, with our titular character seeming to aimlessly bounce through random situations, many of which are designed to spotlight Marjorie’s nighttime attire with pretty minimal progression for any kind of interesting plot. This is maybe by design, at least if you’re going by quotes like this that Ennis has given in interviews about the book: “...let’s throw in a time cop with a malfunctioning sex toy just for fun.”



On the flip side, the art in this comic shines with clean lines from past Ennis collaborator Goran Sudzuka and wildly excellent color work from Miroslav Mrva. The bright and contrasting colors flow elegantly page to page. Marjorie’s choice of attire is pretty absurd, of course, given her choice of profession, and her constant need for hand-to-hand combat. Clothing choices aside, this duo has really presented work to be proud of. 

While this book was maybe not entirely for me, I’m sure it will find an audience with fans of other similarly-minded properties like Tomb Raider or Dejah Thoris. This book features a strong, female lead with positivity, and there’s always room for that on shelves. While the plot is a little dull, the art does pull off some great things. 

Overall: An average story with beautiful artwork. Garth Ennis as a name will draw you in while Sudzuka and Meva are likely to entice you to stay a while with their art. 5.5/10

REVIEW: Marjorie Finnegan - Temporal Criminal #1

Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal #1
Writer:
Garth Ennis
Artist:
Goran Sudzuka
Colorist: Miroslav Mrva
Publisher:
AWA Studios
Price: $3.99
She's Marjorie Finnegan. She's a temporal criminal. What more do you need to know? Oh, all right then: all Marj wants to do is race up and down the time-lanes, stealing every shiny-gleamy-pretty-sparkly she can lay her hands on. But her larcenous trail from the Big Bang to the Ninety-fifth Reich has drawn the beady eye of the Temporal PD, whose number one Deputy Marshall is now hard on our heroine's tail - and taking things extremely personally. Worse still, Marj's worthless creep of an ex and his even scummier partner have seen an angle of their own in all this, and now intend to use her time-tech to change history for their own benefit. Marj's only ally? A guy called Tim. And he's just a head. I mean come on, what use is just a head...?!
Buy It Here: Marjorie Finnegan Temporal Criminal #1

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Larry Jorash resides in Central Florida managing a comic book shop and coaching youth sports. In his spare time he enjoys ice hockey and reading. You will almost never find his hand vacant of coffee. Find him on twitter: (@theREALlarbear)