Hello, my friends. 2025 has arrived as our world presents us with an uncertain future for us to take aim at. With this fresh start to a new year, I feel like it’s no better time than to revisit a certain character who’s already made plenty of violent noise upon this digital domain. Over a timeframe lasting just under two years, I’ve covered most of her “Cosmic Joke Of A Life” within a three-part retrospective that showed off her early days at Event Comics, chronicled her early 21st Century development within the halls of Dynamite Entertainment, then concluded with her rough-and-tumble times at Icon and her initial adventure that was published by Paperfilms. As for the last time that she’s shown up on this site, she found herself on an international trip to Italy since she’s been assigned to help a young woman return to a mob boss in order for him to continually provide some informational help to the FBI. Thankfully for our main lady, she didn’t have to go through this whole ordeal by herself since a familiar female assassin that she’s already grown romantically attached to was also present and provided some sharp-shooting assistance. Now that they’ve completed their assignment, they’re going to give themselves a much-deserved break and relax within the Italian landscape alongside each other. As they’ll ultimately find out however, their vacation will force them to avoid some hit orders that’re somehow placed onto them. On that note, let us return to this topsy-turvy world as I delve into this two-part tale called…
As with all of the character’s previously funded Paperfilms projects, this was crowdfunded through Kickstarter as it managed to acquire $91,082 for its financial backing. Eventually, both issues were published in April 2023 as co-creator Jimmy Palmiotti once again helmed the writer’s chair. Joining him for this venture is Juan Santacruz on the artwork (whose previous contribution to this overall series was in “Price Of Freedom”), while Vittorio Astone takes care of coloring duties. Not only that, but Peach Momoko also got to handle some of the artistic duties for the second part. As for the kind of twists and turns that awaits our central ladies, let’s lock & load up once again in order to take our critical aim and find out.
We open at the Hotel Remo in Rome, Italy where a man has just taken a shower and is getting dressed while he narrates about how nice the room is. However, it’s soon revealed that he’s just murdered a man & a woman as he arms a miniature bomb and places it next to their corpses. He then places a blanket over the naked woman’s body and takes a picture of his bloody work before heading out. From there, he’s met upon a female employee who’s delivering an order that he’s previously placed. After learning that her name is Giana, he soon holds her up and says that they’ll be leaving through the back entrance. She then says that her husband works here as a cook and will quickly notice anything that’s out of sorts, to which he simply assassinates her via a headshot and leaves through the kitchen while he takes advantage of the aforementioned chef being busy at his job. Afterwards, the murderous man gets outside before his bomb blows up the whole floor. At that moment, his female comrade named Jayla drives up and assures him that she did her part of the assignment and that none of the nearby security cameras are working. As they head out, she then informs him that he won’t be receiving any sort of payment from Angelo Russo since he was recently executed “by an FBI agent and two freelancers”. Not only that, but Angelo’s wife was given his position of power despite his whole operation getting leaked. As such, she’s no longer useful to them or anyone else. Jayla then says that she was able to get a new contract from “the boys in Sicily” for the opposing three figures and that two of them are still within Italy. After learning that she’ll text him his targets’ location before meeting him there, the man says that he wants “everything” she’s got on them.
We then shift to (supposedly) the next day in Taormina, Sicily where our main female vigilantes named Jane Vasko and Ajira Sullivan are relaxing on a boat within the shade of a nearby canyon. While Ajira is happy to have her gal pal loosen up, Jane admits that despite enjoying their time together over the past few weeks, she feels like she can’t do this forever due to her being an “adrenaline junkie”. Sullivan says that she never knew that since she wasn’t informed about it ever since their last assignment together. Vasko then asks her about the “freelance network” that she’s a part of and if its presented gigs are screened, to which Ajira confirms by explaining how it researches every seedy situation from across the planet before offering up its contracts. She then says that it’s also up to the “player” doing their own research and that they’re not obligated to do anything that they don’t agree on. From there, Jane asks her if they can look for any assignments that she may like as Sullivan agrees before they head out. Later that evening, they access said network and discover a few European-based assignments. Ultimately, they settle on a Venice-based gig that has a “ruthless crime wave” scaring off tourists while also putting several women into grim fates, especially since there’s a good payout attached to it. Later, our ladies are on a northbound train as Vasko takes in the vast scenery while narrating about how she’s been trying to live in the moment with her same-sex love. However, their last mission has still been bugging her due to them escorting an undercover FBI agent towards the execution of a mole that was playing both sides of a mob war. While she was mad at herself for getting suckered into the gig, she was also furious towards her longtime friend Maureen for setting her up within said assignment, even though Det. Fernandez was also unaware of the agent’s actual plan. Even so, Jane was still angry by all of this to the point where she’s been in Italy for a whole month and has even “cold-shouldered” her stateside friends within the same timeframe. While she recovers from this, she looks to take advantage of her situation and spend some quality time with her love.
Later, they arrive in Venice and meet up with their contractor who says that the police have been unable to deal with the city’s rampant crime, not to mention the vast number of corrupt officials within their ranks that’ve complicated things. As for the crime itself, it involves rival gangs with their own “rapists, murderers and drug dealers” who all have political ties that’s allowed them to enact their seedy businesses without any fear of being punished. He then reminds the ladies how their assignment is strictly off-record and that they’re never allowed to meet up with him ever again. Later, our ladies are back at their hotel room as Vasko reads their assignment’s file and learns about over a hundred reported cases that consist of murder, rape and even people that’ve gone missing with the majority of the victims being women. Ajira shares her disgust in how it seems like loads of scumbags are being attracted to this city before a package arrives for her. She then explains how she has her own equivalency to Maureen in that she has someone who “takes care of things” for her before opening the box to reveal some guns and a first-aid kit. Jane then says that she’s found two areas that have the majority of Venice’s crime before Sullivan mentions how she’s made plans for them that does and doesn’t involve their work. Meanwhile, the mystery assassin arrives via gondola and meets up with Jayla before learning that they’ve checked into a hotel along with his package & files waiting for him in their room. She then informs him on their two targets, with Vasko having little information for Jayla to retrieve about her. However, Sullivan’s background was easier for her to find out as Jayla mentions how both ladies are in the Royal Hotel after meeting up with a retired police chief. As they arrive at said lodging business, the mystery man tells her to learn why the opposing women are in Venice while he attempts to have a stateside comrade dig up more information about Jane. Over in New York City, Maureen narrates about how she hasn’t been able to contact Vasko over the past two weeks due to the outcome of the recent mission. As such, she calls up Dr. Seth Hiller who also hasn’t heard from Jane and had assumed that she was on an undercover mission. As such, he tells Det. Fernandez to look up their friend’s cell phone location since they’re the only ones who’ve been given access by her. Maureen then admits that she didn’t think of doing it due to being exhausted as she looks up her friend’s cell phone location and notices that she’s still in Italy. After discovering that she’s in Venice, Det. Fernandez decides to fly over there.
Back with Vasko, she and Ajira have been to a few bars yet haven’t been able to come across any criminals. Sullivan then takes her to a “special afterhours club” as they get inside via a password before she lets her comrade know that they’re taking a break from their assignment in order for them to “have some fun” as it’s revealed to be an S&M type of hangout. Ajira then tells her partner to keep “an open mind”, yet Jane narrates about how she couldn’t and that she’s unsure on how she should be feeling about this, especially after Sullivan meets up with some patrons that proceed to make out with her. Just as Vasko waits outside of the club, she’s then met upon by a group of local guys who invite her to a party that they’re hosting. Jane then asks them if her friend can join them, to which they accept just before Ajira catches up. Unbeknownst to all of them, the assassin and Jayla are observing from a nearby rooftop. She mentions how she should’ve brought the rifle in order for them to finish our ladies off right there, yet the guy says that he doesn’t conduct his business that way.
Later, Vasko & Sullivan get brought up to the guys’ apartment as they immediately notice how it entirely consists of men and that they’re immediately not interested enough to stay. However, the door gets closed on them as the leader offers some drugs. With our ladies unable to leave, Jane says that they have to use the bathroom as they make their way there while she notices some deplorable sex acts being carried out onto some bound women within some adjacent rooms. After they reach the bathroom, Ajira mentions that she’s also noticed the same loathsome activities along with the black bands on the guys’ arms, to which Vasko recognizes them as a criminal gang called the Vagabonds and that the group is on their hit list. While Sullivan gets ready, she asks her partner about her behavior back in the club. Vasko says that she got angry after seeing her beloved with other people as it apparently made her furious enough to beat those people up. Ajira admits that she simply brought her friend there since she became “bored” with their relationship and that she’s not an easy person to read. Fortunately, Jane expresses her feelings towards her by sharing a kiss before the gang leader lets them know that his men are waiting for them. After assuring him that they’re about to put on a show, our ladies have finally prepped their handguns as Vasko wants to start in the back rooms while Sullivan mentions how they’ll need to execute their foes “fast and hard”.
From there, they burst out and begin their assault as Ajira swiftly shoots the opposing men in the main room. As for Jane, she takes out a pair of goons in one room despite also getting shot in her left shoulder. Afterwards, she heads into the next room and executes the two guys before coming across Sullivan’s bloody handiwork. She then notices her friend’s gunshot wound as Vasko assures her that she’s fine and that she still has her Healing Factor, despite narrating about how she’s starting to feel light-headed and needs to rest. Suddenly, she gets shot multiple times by the gagged woman before Sullivan retaliates and shoots her down. Afterwards, she helps Jane outside who then wearily says that she’s losing the feeling within her legs and arms. Unbeknownst to them, the mystery assassin and Jayla are observing them from afar as he still refuses his partner’s offer to finish them off right now. From there, our ladies reach the Hotel Musplus as they discover both Maureen and Seth having just arrived there. As such, Issue 1 ends with Ajira asking for their help since Vasko’s been shot and is also not breathing.
Issue 2 begins with Vasko being swept away within a raging current while being solely clad within bandage wrappings. With those medical swaths constricting her body, she uses a knife to cut some of them before noticing that she’s approaching a waterfall. Despite her effort to swim away from it, the current is too strong as she ends up falling over the edge before plunging into the depths below. Suddenly, the nearby sea life mention how they’ve heard her narration about how she doesn’t give up despite her hopeless situation, to which they ask her if it’s something that helps her be safe or if it merely prevents her from reaching her potential.
They then tell her that her perspective needs to change as she retrieves some handguns from inside one of the fishes and fends them all off before returning to the surface. She then spots Det. Fernandez standing over a lifeless body as she sees that it’s actually her own bloodied corpse, to which the sea life says that Maureen can’t hear her even though she’s able to “control everything”.
As Jane begins to cry over this, it’s soon revealed to have been a dream and that she’s managed to recover from her near-fatal incident. She’s then met upon by Dr. Hiller who managed to nurse her back to health, which included the use of some painkillers. After they share a tender moment, he explains that he came over with Det. Fernandez and that she’s currently having lunch with Sullivan. Jane then asks Seth how long she was personally out, to which he says that the gunshots to her shoulder, ribs and leg were serious enough to put her out of action for six days. She then wonders why she’s still hurting despite her own Healing Factor, to which he says that it’s slowing down for some unknown reason, whether it’s because of her age, diet or where her wounds were located. After mentioning that he’ll need to do some testing in order to get a better estimation on her accelerated healing, he helps her into the bathroom before he helps remove her bandages. She then asks him why he and Maureen are even here, to which he explains to Vasko that she was too furious at her to return her calls and that Det. Fernandez and him became concerned enough to track her cell phone in order to reach her. As Jane begins to take a shower, he then tells the good doctor to pick her up “some pasta and a beer”. Meanwhile, Maureen shares her longtime friend’s past with Ajira while the mystery assassin and Jayla observe them from afar. While she complains with him about how he’s waiting too long to complete his hit order, she soon learns that the bounty on Vasko has doubled while the price on Sullivan is still the same. She then tells him that they should go after Jane, to which he refuses before telling Jayla that she’s merely “a glorified secretary” before sending back to their hotel room in order for her to wait for his call. Just as she heads out, she’s unaware that Det. Fernandez and Ajira were able to discreetly spot them. Sullivan then tells her how she’s previously noticed them on the same night that she and Dr. Hiller arrived before also mentioning that she’ll follow the woman, to which Maureen says that she’ll keep an eye on “pretty boy” and text her on any changes.
Later, Jayla has gotten out of the shower before she discovers Ajira waiting in her hotel room with a gun drawn. Sullivan then says that she’ll be asking her some questions and will shoot her if she gets an undesirable response. From there, she asks Jayla why she and “her boyfriend” were following her, to which she feigns her response and winds up with a bullet in her right knee for her trouble. When she refuses to properly answer the question again, Ajira shoots her left arm and says that she’s seen her own file on her computer, thus reminding her of what she’s capable of doing before demanding to know if the kill job is personal or if she’s working for somebody. Jayla still refuses to cooperate, so she gets hit as a result before Sullivan warns her that she can take as long as possible since she has a friend that’s tailing the mystery assassin. However, Jayla then reveals that he’s Tony Berdella a.k.a. the aforementioned Midnight Killer and that there’s a bounty on both her & Vasko due to their actions in Sicily. As such, he won’t stop until he executes both of them, along with both Det. Fernandez and Seth. Fortunately, Jayla is willing to hand over intel on their main suspect (known here as the M.K. Killer) in return for being spared along with getting a cut of the bounty once he’s bumped off. She even mentions that she has loads of files on him along with a tracker that he’s unaware of and that they’re only accessible on her cell phone. Ajira acquires it and is then given the code to access it, but they’re unaware that Tony was watching them from a nearby rooftop as he fires a sniper shot that goes straight through Jayla’s head before hitting Sullivan as well. Back with the re-bandaged Jane, she and Dr. Hiller talk about her previous Sicily-based assignment as he assures her that neither she or Maureen are at fault for not knowing about the intentions from the “junior FBI agent”. Vasko assures him that she’s moved on and that she just wants to take a break from her stateside worries for a while. He then expresses his worry towards her getting struck in a vital part of her body, to which she says that it’s still her life and that her loving friends should be caring enough to set her free on her own path. Suddenly, Det. Fernandez bursts in to inform them about the cruel fate that’s fallen onto Ajira.
Later at the hospital, Seth informs Jane about an update that he received from a nurse. Fortunately, Sullivan was spared from certain death thanks to the bullet being slowed down just enough by the metal plate within Jayla’s skull. As such, the shot was only able to strike her right eye. Maureen then comes out to say that Sullivan is awake and only wants to talk to Vasko, to which Det. Fernandez reminds her to learn what their comrade is able to remember. Shortly after Jane heads into her room, Ajira warns her that the guy who shot her eye out is actually the M.K. Killer and has not only set his murderous sights on them, but Maureen and Seth as well. She’s also learned from the now-deceased Jayla that there’s a massive bounty attached to them and that their assassin won’t stop until he completes his job. Sullivan then tells her beloved to take out Jayla’s cell phone and punch in a specific code, to which Vasko does so before accessing their suspect’s file along with an app that’s able to track his cell phone. Jane then discovers that he’s actually fairly close by before Ajira tells her to get everything that she’ll need from their hotel room since he’ll be showing up at any moment. Jane then asks her how she’s feeling, to which Sullivan says that she’s not entirely well yet it’s more important for her comrade to go hunt the guy down and make him suffer for what he did. As such, they share a kiss before Vasko gives Det. Fernandez a handgun and tells her to stay put with Dr. Hiller since she’s going after the assassin. She even clarifies that it’s the M.K. Killer and that they’re all on his hit list, to which Maureen says that she wants her friend to stay put in order for all of them to face the guy together. However, Jane disagrees since she knows where their suspect it and that she’s going to finish this. She then tells Det. Fernandez that she and Seth will have to deal with him if she’s unable to return. Despite worrying her longtime friends with her current condition, Vasko heads out before noticing that her suspect has stopped at a nearby restaurant. As such, she calls up the retired police chief and asks him for some protection for her allies. He proceeds to send a few officers over there before Jane returns to her hotel room in order properly arm herself with the right guns.
Later, she observes the M.K. Killer from afar as he’s sitting at a restaurant before he’s then approached by another man. It turns out that he’s a hired heavy who’s going to be the one that’ll actually murder Vasko’s close friends for the proper price. The guy then asks him why he’s not doing this himself, to which Tony essentially says that he wants to personally execute Jane at the same time as this. After discreetly observing their conversation from a proper distance, Vasko proceeds to follow the hired thug before she finally catches up and shoots him through the back of his head. However, her right shoulder and her sunglasses get shot as the M.K. Killer was hiding out in a nearby alley. From there, she takes cover before they engage each other in a fierce shootout.
We then shift to 7am the next day where Jane successfully returns and has told the hired officers that they can all head out. She then escorts her longtime friends out in order for Ajira to get some sleep before assuring them that she’s willing to explain herself. After narrating about how she needs some space in order to deal with her current business, she and her comrades reach a gondola that’s helmed by an Italian man who doesn’t comprehend the English language before they all set sail on the waterway. From there, Vasko tells Maureen and Seth that they need to head out tonight since while both of them did come out see her “from a place of love”, she still found it a bit annoying and that she needs to be alone in order to focus her attention on Sullivan, especially with her lover going through some medical recovery. She then promises to make it up to them if they fulfill her request before they all share a hug. Later, Jane is back in the hospital as she narrates about her friends having understood her plight and agreed to fly back to America, with her even getting some misunderstood tension between her and Det. Fernandez dealt with as well. Vasko then mentions how her immediate future must be focused on Ajira and helping her recover. With some whiskey in hand to help her “soften things”, she then proceeds to climb into bed as they proceed to share a tender moment.
Ten days later, Sullivan has recovered as she mentions how she’s spent some time thinking about the future and that even though she’s fortunate to be alive, she’s still mad about missing her chance to make the assassin suffer for what he did to her. From there, Jane brings her to a building that she’s rented from the same retired police chief and that it’s over six decades old with three sub-levels with the two lowest levels being entirely underwater. As they make their way down, Vasko mentions how seeing her beloved in pain caused her to get emotional and that it’s allowed her to get closer. As they arrive at a room, she then says that she went after the guy while being filled with anger, rage and empathy. Because the experience allowed her to fully understand Sullivan, she then reveals that she’s actually captured the M.K. Killer. And so, the series ends with our ladies eager to torture him together as they share a kiss.
Overall, this Italian-based venture was a nicely gripping tale even though its aim isn’t as true as its predecessor. In terms of things that were genuinely good, I will say that it did give Jane a legit personal struggle for her to deal with unlike “Heartbreaker” where it felt like the only challenge that she had to go through was her escort mission. This time around, this two-parter makes some good effort in tackling her personal feelings, especially towards her same-sex relationship with Ajira, since it’s been helping her deal with the annoying twist that their last assignment presented and caused her to get needlessly mad towards her longtime friend Maureen. Throughout the course of the mini-series, Vasko & Sullivan’s intimate partnership faces its own hurdles as Jane finds herself struggling with her own affections, thus causing her to send some semblances of doubt and unclear signals towards Ajira. Fortunately, they do take the time to quickly address this hiccup within their relationship before their eventual takedown of a devious gang while Det. Fernandez’ eventual overseas excursion allows her to elaborate on Vasko’s quirks in order for Sullivan to learn and better understand why her lover is the way she is. Speaking of Jane’s longtime allies, this leads into another aspect that helps her ever budding partnership with Ajira thrive since it coincides with one helping the other out due to them getting unfortunately caught in the opposing crossfire. When Sullivan is helping Vasko out of their Vagabond takedown and the latter’s drug-powered Healing Factor is surprisingly not reacting like it usually does, it is contrived that the M.K. Killer passes up on two separate opportunities to assassinate our main ladies from afar when they’re in primarily solitude settings, yet he does decide to engage Jane within a crowded space once she executes his hired hitman. Not to mention, it’s also convenient that our ladies make it to a hotel that Maureen and Seth were just arriving at so that Jane can receive some medical treatment in order for her to recover. Despite those moments of somewhat-lazy storytelling, it still shows Ajira’s loving commitment to her friend no matter where she ultimately decided to give her partner some badly needed help. As for Vasko helping Sullivan out once the latter gets put into the hospital for the climax by the M.K. Killer, the drama within that build-up was very solid and ultimately allowed Jane to properly share her romantic feelings for her throughout the rest of the book. In terms of things about this key stretch that ultimately bothered me, it starts with the shot that would sideline Ajira for the climax and also take away her right eye. Thanks to multiple reads, I can confirm that there wasn’t any hint (subtle or otherwise) that Jayla had a metal plate in her head which would ultimately prove to be the deciding factor that allowed Sullivan to survive. You would think that the M.K. Killer should’ve known that ultimately important detail about his sidekick and just quietly locate another possible angle for him to line up his kill shot, only for Jayla to unintentionally screw it up for him at the last possible moment. Aside from that, the climax was pretty lax. With it ultimately taking place in a populated space, it should’ve presented itself as a tense and gripping scene where no police backup is in sight due to the department being corrupt while some innocent civilians lose their lives within the blood-soaked carnage that Vasko would ultimately prevail in. Once it gets to the intense heat of the conflict, it simply fades out towards the next day where we learn that Jane has won off-panel. This story could’ve still had the surprise ending of her keeping the baddie alive for Ajira to get her torturous revenge on, but it would’ve made a bigger impact had the reader been allowed to see Vasko properly engage a figure that’s been hinted at since “Heartbreaker” and was also built up throughout this run of comics. Aside from all of that along with a few other microscopic problems (from a rare odd-sounding sentence to a dialogue balloon not connected to Jayla while she’s been tortured and interrogated by Sullivan), this was still a greatly effective outing that allowed our leading ladies to advance their relationship, leaves Jane with a chance to mature within Det. Fernandez & Dr. Hiller’s eyes and also keeps the door open for a future story about Vasko having to take better care of herself since her Healing Factor was starting to falter while also being forced to deal with her own mortality. As of this writing, there hasn’t been any notable announcement towards any future title starring our leading lady. Should another chapter get the green light and ultimately reach publication, you can guarantee that it’ll get covered here. As for our featured story, it still manages to hit its mark. The pacing is pretty solid & never seemed to extensively drag at any point, the central cast of characters were all presented well while Lady Jane’s featured character arc was decently handled, the artwork had a stellar color palette that allowed Juan Santacruz to allow his artistic details to be colorfully presentable within either the bright daytime or the moody evenings while Peach Momoko made the most of her brief space in Issue 2 to allow her artful touch to enhance the dream state that Vasko finds herself in at the start of the book and the action was brief & light, yet mostly did its neat job to move the narrative forward. All-in-all, this continues to progress our leading lady’s personal development in various areas and makes its own situation pretty thrilling despite not being as solid or sharp as it could’ve been. Even with its own setbacks, the presented standalone adventure made for an engaging experience worthy of getting checked out while also leaving some room for future harrowing moments. If you’re a fan of the character and haven’t gotten to this yet, then take some time within your “cosmic joke of a life” to give it a read.
Painkiller Jane (created by Jimmy Palmiotti & Joe Quesada) is owned by PaperFilms.
