‘Leading the way in British graphic novels and comics’. That is the mantra Markosia Comics operates by and it’s a mantra that suits the company perfectly, with many new and emerging British comic talent seeking them out to help bring their ideas to life. A great example of this is Mi Sweethart from writer Sam Head and artist Rachel Nutkins, in which the eponymous lead seemingly faces an assassination attempt. But will this title make a killing with readers?

Publisher: Markosia Comics
Writer: Sam Head
Artist: Rachel Nutkins
Price: TBC

Mi Sweethart follows the plan of an agency hit squad, consisting of their best agents all skilled at ‘not being caught’. However, their most recent assignment has them questioning their chosen career path when they are ordered to capture the titular Mi Sweethart, considered the most effective (and merciless) killer in all the world who is, apparently, now ‘out’ of the game. However, this luckless band of hired guns may be the least of Mi’s worries as they aren’t the first assassins to come a knocking, and they don’t appear to be the last she’ll contend with either…

Mi Sweethart is an incredibly humorous book which, while focusing on a rather dark, brutal genre or assassins and killers, seems to come across as being played entirely for laughs. This comic, what could be best described as an action comedy, while mature, is incredibly well written with some fantastic dialogue between characters, such as the hit squad’s briefing at the start of the book. This book does nothing to lose the smile on the reader’s face, with the issue really venturing into some real silliness in places, such as Mi’s phone conversation with her boss and even the concept of an assassin who thinks he’s a dog. In fact, very little is wrong with the writing, save for the fact that the issue doesn’t fully clarify the connections between characters. However, this is of small consequence given the tale’s light heartedness.

As for the art, while the style comes off as looking somewhat rough and simple to start with, it is soon evident that this is actually a good call as it matches the tone of the story really well, especially with the good use of some deep colours. This opening quality also remains consistent throughout, showing that artist Nutkins knew exactly what she wanted from this book, which is confirmed during the final fight sequence, which is less about thrilling readers and more about making them laugh.

Mi Sweethart is a light hearted comic which doesn’t require any deep thinking for someone to enjoy. From the dialogue to the action sequences right to some of the more insane ideas, Head and Nutkins have created a comic just for the fun of it and that fun bleeds out of every single page. If it’s been a hard day and you need a comic to cheer you up, you could do far, far worse than this one.