MISS OCTOBER VOLUME 2

"MURDER OF THE MONTH"
Writer: Stephen Desberg | Artist: Alain Queireix | Colorist: Kattrin

The second installment of MISS OCTOBER opens with our heroine, Viktor, having received a second note from the mystery person who claims to know about the night she was assaulted and rendered deaf. The letter-writer wants one hundred thousand dollars in order to reveal the secret. So naturally our ameteur cat burglar concocts a scheme to extort the cash from a friend of her father's, Hogan Harley. At the same time, Inspector Clegg's investigation finds the car he's been seaching for, abandoned in a parking lot -- and registration reveals it to be owned by Hogan as well.

So Viktor steals Hogan's "little black book" -- containing information on all the young women with whom the respected Christian music producer has carried on affairs -- and sends him a note demanding money in exchange for the book's return. The same day Hogan reads the letter, Clegg stops by to tell him his car has bene located. Hogan claims his daughter, Maddie, had the car when it was taken, and Maddie tells Clegg that she was with Viktor in order to get him off her scent. She then goes to visit the serial killer, who murders her (and who has also added Viktor to his list of upcoming victims as Miss October).

The weird thing is, Maddie doesn't seem to know the guy she's visiting is the killer; she's just there to tell him the police are on to them over the stolen car. It's only later, after he's stabbed her and taken some nude photos of her, that she realized the truth... just before he finishes her off. Meanwhile, Clegg and his rival/boss, Ariel Samson, continue to bang hookers when they're not busy with their police work (and Ariel is still having an affair with Clegg's wife, who still loves Clegg and wants him to quit the force because his work is so dangerous)... and Ariel's mother is apparently a rich old woman helping to fundraise for the mayoral campaign of Giles Robards, who has promised Ariel the position of Chief of Police in his administration.

I must say, I kind of love how salacious all this stuff is. Everybody is having affairs with everybody else. In another life, I might have been a fan of daytime soap operas! But in any case, I can't really figure out Ariel. Whenever he and Clegg are together, it's extremely clear that they loathe one another. Ariel is always trying to horn in on Clegg's case, and constantly making crude comments about Clegg's wife, Margeaux, and his tendency to pick up hookers -- and when he mentions to Clegg his plans to become the next Chief, he says that he will be cutting the "dead wood" from the department -- including Clegg. But whenever he's actually with Margeaux, he makes comments about how much he respects Clegg, what a great detective he is (recall last week that he said he'd take a bullet for him), and he even seems to want Clegg and his family to move away from Los Angeles to a quieter jurisdiction for a peaceful life.

So is Ariel just being two-faced? And if so, which side is the real one? Does he hate Clegg, as seems to be the case when they're face-to-face, and is he therefore lying to Margeaux about how much he respects him? Or does he secretly actually like Clegg, and the enmity is, for some reason, an act?

But anyway -- the story continues as Viktor pulls off her scheme. She has arranged for Hogan to drop off the hundred grand in the same location she will meet the letter-writer. Hogan leaves the cash in a back alley trash can as instructed and departs. Then Viktor's detective friend, Juanita, goes to retrieve it -- but she's assaulted by a man with a knife who mistakes her for Viktor. Hogan returns, however, to attack the blackmailer (who he believes to be the man with the knife). Hogan and the man get into a skirmish and Hogan recognizes him, but is stabbed and killed before we readers can learn who it is.

Viktor gives Juanita the majority of the hundred thousand for her trouble, then heads to Hogan's house to see Maddie -- but, of course, she's not there. She bumps into Clegg at the house, however, and he sees her home. Viktor begins to fantasize about Clegg, but soon receives another letter in which the mystery persion tells her that what happens next is on her, and to "remember what happened to Audrey."

The volume ends as Juanita meets with a reporter she asked to investigate Viktor. He tells her that Viktor has been a suspect in a few art thefts, but charges were never filed. He also explains that whatever happened the night of Viktor's assault was covered up by her father, who arranged to have her injuries filed as the result of a car accident instead. When he shows Juanita the accident file, she thumbs through it and reacts with shock.

Aside from some confusion, as noted above, regarding Ariel's motives, I continue to really like this story. The noir is laid on so thick you can taste it, and the artwork continues to astound. Every so often an artist is able to capture a locale so well that it feels like the reader has been transported there, and that's exactly the feeling one gets looking at Alain Queireix's depictions of Los Angeles circa 1961. You can practically hear the sounds of the young city and feel the sun and breeze on your skin as you read. It's remarkable.

We've reached the halfway point now on MISS OCTOBER, and I'm champing at the bit to find out what happenes next. But at the same time, I'm gonna be pretty bummed when this ride is over!