Hit-Girl has been racking up some serious frequent flyer miles, chopping down bad guys from Columbia, Canada, Rome, Hollywood, all the way to Hong Kong. Hit-Girl in India sees Mindy McCready take her particular set of skills to Mumbai where a nefarious guy called The Beggarman has been mutilating poor, innocent street children for his own personal amusement. But he’s about to learn a killer lesson in “you reap what you sow.” Peter Mulligan, Alison Sampson, and colorist Triona Farrell join forces to bring the glorious city of Mumbai to life with all the murder, mayhem, and fun you’d come to expect from a great Hit-Girl story.
This story was a blast to read. From the very start, Hit-Girl is doing what she does best, and that’s kicking ass and taking names. The writing is well put together and connects very filling characters through a series of events that lead back to the infamous Beggarman. Although the plot revolves around Hit-Girl, she acts as more of a secondary character to tell a larger story.
The bigger issue highlighted throughout the graphic novel gives readers a glimpse into the world of human trafficking that women and children endure on a day to day basis in India. Forced labor, sexual exploitation for prostitution, abduction, and child abuse are some of the areas covered over the course of four chapters of the story. The writing also gives some information regarding Indian culture. For instance, we learn about a Hindu goddess known as Bahuchara Mata who was considered a patroness of the Hijra community.
As for Hit-Girl who narrates most of the tale, she’s in full form and the book just reiterates how well fleshed out of a character she is. When she sees someone in trouble she goes full-on Taxi Driver, putting herself in harm’s way to save the day. The true reflection of a hero. We get a combination of different influences during her journey to find out who the Beggarman is and breaking necks, arms, and whatever else gets in her way. I think the best way to sum up her vicious mercenary style of warfare is: put Batman, The Equalizer, Robin Hood, and The Punisher together and you get Hit-Girl.
A walk through Mumbai
Sampson really outdid herself with the illustrations for this book. From the first page, her pencil work is reminiscent of the film The Professional starring Natalie Portman. It works beautifully given the nature of the comic tells of abuse, neglect, and violence just like the film I mentioned. The character designs feel raw and real, like the elements of the story. The locations, the buildings, the Indian architecture feel very authentic.
Farrell’s color choices really do a significant job of normalizing and complementing Sampson’s artwork. What I loved most about her color work is how it brings out the emotions in each character. You can really tell a lot by a person’s facial expressions and the colors really help enhance that. Aside from that, I enjoyed the clothing, heavy displays of chaos, and even traffic panels in the comic.
The Verdict
Hit-Girl: In India is a magnificent story that captures the true essence and cultural elements of India. The pacing is great and the realness and awareness to important topics like human trafficking the story brings are just incredible. If you’ve read Hit-Girl’s other adventures across the globe, make sure to check this one out as well. It’s definitely well worth the read.
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