In THE GIRL WHO ELECTRIFIED TESLA #1, available from Titan Comics on April 14th, 2021, Detective Minky Woodcock is hired by a captain of industry to learn the secret behind Nikola Tesla’s mysterious “Death Ray.”
The Details
- Written By: Cynthia von Buhler
- Art By: Cynthia von Buhler
- Colors By: Cynthia von Buhler
- Letters By: Jim Campbell
- Cover Art By: Cynthia von Buhler
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: April 14, 2021
Was It Good?
It’s different. Historical fiction is not new to the comics platform, so the interest comes in when a creator merges in the mythology of historical figures and places rather than relying on dry facts. To that end, von Buhler does a decent enough job wrapping her fictional detective around the people, sights, and sounds of the era.
The art is adequate, especially the coloring, but this is a highly referenced comic. It’s clear the artist took pictures of models in the scenes, then penciled/inked over the photos to create the finished work. On the one hand, it gives the comic a grounded realism in a fictional story. On the other, the panels look like posed models, which loses the energy of movement. The end result looks closer to selected frames taken from a rotoscope rather than a drawn comic. Some may like the outcome. This reviewer felt the visual result was static and flat.
Check out our THE GIRL WHO ELECTRIFIED TESLA #1 preview to decide for yourself.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Detective Minky Woodcock has been hired by JP Morgan Jr. to find out more about a reported “death ray” developed by Nikola Tesla. After a New Year’s Eve night of debauchery, Woodcock visits with her father who’s suffering from Stage-Four Cancer. During her visit, the doctor treating her father with innovative technology asks if he could be informed about any inventions Tesla is inventing. It seems anyone who deals in technology and innovation has their eye on Tesla’s work.
Woodcock “accidentally” bumps into Nikola Tesla during his daily pigeon feeding in the park, and she strikes up a conversation. Using her wit and charm, Woodcock gets Tesla to open up about his work, his financial woes, the constant attempts to steal his ideas and patents, and his altruistic ideas about bringing peace and electrical power to the world. The constant threat to him is the corporate groups who want to keep the secrets for themselves in the name of profit.
Having read Tesla’s life story, this brief introduction rings true for the real-life person. Unfortunately, the limitations of the heavily referenced art style fail to capture the recognizable appearance of Tesla and attempts to draw over the photo models wind up looking like distorted faces that approach Tesla’s appearance but don’t quite make it.
From Tesla, Woodcock learns the Morgan Jr.’s sons, Junius and Henry, will soon be in control of the funds for the Morgan estate due to their father’s illness. Tesla’s plan is to rebuild the Wardenclyffe Tower Morgan Sr. destroyed because it would give power and wireless communication for free instead of allowing their company to make a profit off of power. If Tesla can get the tower rebuilt and sold at a profit, he would make enough money to build his death ray.
At this point, you might be thinking “wow, that sounds really convoluted,” and you would be right. Tesla’s objective is to create a giant energy weapon to be used as a deterrent to war. Think of it as an early version of the nuclear arms race but with death rays instead of nukes. Honestly, the pages of the section took several passes to make sense out of, and it still doesn’t quite make sense. Moving on.
Woodcock concocts a plan to get aboard Junius and Henry’s yacht and to use her feminine charms to get information out of them. The plan largely works, complete with a femme fatale cameo by Josephine Baker. Woodcock exits the yacht after getting the information she wanted and before the younger Morgans get too handsy.
Later, Woodcock meets up with Tesla because he wants to show her the prototype construction for his Wardenclyffe Tower. The experience is magical for Woodcock and both leave the demonstration feeling good… possibly romantic.
How Does It End?
Woodcock deciphers a note the younger Morgans were given. Tesla wishes he wasn’t already married to his work. And a speeding car comes out of nowhere.
Final Thoughts
THE GIRL WHO ELECTRIFIED TESLA #1, available from Titan Comics on April 14th, 2021, takes the closest historical events to actual science fiction and wraps it around a unique detective story. With mediocre art and a convoluted plot, the comic is interesting but fails to rise above a novelty.
Score: 6/10
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com