Comic Review: Smooth Criminals #6

Smooth Criminals #6

BOOM! Studios

Writers: Kurt Lustgarten, Kirsten ‘Kiwi’ Smith, and Amy Roy

Artists: Leisha Riddel & Brittany Peer

Smooth Criminals is a criminally underrated series as of now. It has cryogenics, 1980s tech movie tropes, the 1960’s hair poof, and a thrown together thieving duo. The characters have been disenfranchised and use their criminal escapade as a way to bring themselves up to par. They’re good people doing the wrong thing for decent reasons and it’s something any reader can get behind.

The series spends its first five issues building to the big heist. Mia is constantly training to go around the security measures while Brenda looks towards disabling them. They make a good team and run like a well-oiled machine despite a few unforeseen circumstances. It’s a testament to the writing team that readers root for the thieves to pull off their big score. Unfortunately, they can’t win this early in the game. With six issues left of the story, the creators are pulling in a few extra elements and expanding the book’s playground.

One of those new elements is Mia’s mom, Reina Corsair, a felon put away in the 1960s. Originally a struggling immigrant mother looking to make ends meet, Reina took to thieving, teaching her daughter the same. It’s unclear as of now if there was more to this story, but I suspect there is. Reina clearly tries to divert investigators from Mia’s path, but that plan falls through due to Hatch’s scheme.

Hatch may be Mia’s old rival, but it’s clear that he took a few losses to her as utter humiliation. The man is bent on ruining her and he takes his chance this issue. It’s easy to hate the guy, he’s a misogynist with hang-ups on his masculinity from old events. He’s not too clever either really, pretty much takes the Net of Indra from Mia after the heist. It’s not really sportsmanlike and definitely goes against honor among thieves. He’s a jackass who only adds to Mia and Brenda’s strength.

The moment that stands out in this issue for me is when Brenda runs into her crush, Tallulah Blue. It turns out T-Blue runs the IT Department at the museum they’re stealing from and she recognizes Brenda. Having seen Mia improvise beforehand by flirting with the receptionist, Brenda improvises with T-Blue by asking her to sing. It’s a moment that shows the protagonists are learning from each other while gaining courage with their new skills. It’s solid writing through showing, not telling, and I really enjoy it.

With regards to showing, the art team totally nails every panel. One of my favorite parts of the book is Riddel’s pencils. The character designs are awesome and really bring together the characters with their personalities. The whole “out-of-time” look the team goes for with Mia is perfect while Brenda’s geekiness radiates from her design. There’s a panel from this issue where Mia is rappelling down towards the Net of Indra and it’s just gorgeous.

There’s definitely a lot to enjoy in this issue and heist fans should get a kick out of it. If you like watching a pair of thieves pull themselves together, this is a series you should definitely check out. With only 6 issues left, now is the time to jump into the story.