The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are ready to show the other teams at the Reseda Wrestlefest what they’re made of! Unfortunately, the other contestants are more than happy to kick their butts before they even get into the ring!
For fans of the Netflix series, one of the best things about this comic is the way in which it takes the characters as established in the show and cranks up their personalities to suit the bonkers and colorful world of comics.
On the same token, however, it’s nice to see that the Prima Divas (an opposing team who think that GLOW is an embarrassment to the sport) are fortunately not portrayed as one-dimensional naysayers, simply out to show up our main characters. They actually have a great point about how reckless the Ladies are being. They’re not professional wrestlers, so mixing it up with actual pros is dangerous for everyone involved, both physically and legally.
Not all of the new characters are out to get our Gorgeous Ladies, however. We’re introduced to Desdemona, a luchadora who kind of takes Carmen under her wing. There’s a sweet sincerity to their scenes that opens Carmen up a bit more than she usually gets to do in the series. It’s nice to see her let go of her fear of being considered a fraud and to get back to enjoying learning new things about her favorite sport … even if she does get laid out. It’s a fun moment for a character that’s been very high strung through these first two issues.
The biggest takeaway for this issue, however, is that it all just feels very low stakes. Sure, our heroes are being trash-talked and we’d like to see them prove the other side wrong, but that’s about it. It doesn’t feel like there’s anything new here that we haven’t seen in the show and it’s unlikely that new readers would find much to hang onto. Still, it’s a fun romp with the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, and maybe that’s all it needs to be. But fans coming to this from the Netflix series may feel a little bit let down by how light the whole affair feels.
On the plus side, the artwork is fun and suits the wackier tone of the comic. Facial expressions are appropriately cartoonish, particularly in a rather funny sequence where Sam showers the Ladies with beef jerky in his own misguided attempt at “fueling” them for the battle ahead.
There’s a really fun character entrance at the end of the issue that elicited a big smile from me, but that also, in classic GLOW fashion, is sure to have repercussions going forward. In moments like these, the comic feels a little bit more like the character-driven GLOW that fans of the television series know and love.
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