One part crime mystery and one part sister-centered familial drama, The Deadliest Bouquet began life as a successful Kickstarter in mid-2021. If you missed out on the 120-page graphic novel then, it’s not too late to get in on the punchy, knife-throwing action. The Deadliest Bouquet is now enjoying a wider release under the Image Comics banner, split across five issues. With Issue #2 hitting comic stockists today, it’s a good time for a miniseries refresher.
The Deadliest Bouquet is a globally collaborative effort from writer Erica Schultz (Moon Knight, Charmed, Forgotten Home) who doubles up on lettering duties here, Italian artist Carola Borelli (Star Trek; Destiny, NY), Peruvian colorist Gab Contreras (Witchblood, TRVE KVLT), and editor James Emmett (I Am Hexed). Adriana Melo provides the primary series covers for the Image release.
Set in 1998, The Deadliest Bouquet centres on estranged twenty-something sisters Rose, Poppy, and Violet, who are reunited by the death of their mother. That may sound like a fairly standard, if sad, domestic occurrence, but this is no ordinary family. Jasmine Hawthorn ran a successful flower shop in New Jersey, but she had a unique side gig too: she was a second-generation Nazi hunter, who trained her daughters to be similarly lethal. Oh, and her blood-splattered life ended in murder. Her children will have to put aside their differences to uncover what happened, and hide their family’s many secrets from the inquisitive police on the case.
Image has been throwing around references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charlie’s Angels and Charmed when punting The Deadliest Bouquet, and that comparison feels appropriate. The miniseries delivers sass, brutal action and badass women, but the tale also isn’t afraid to veer into darker, grubbier narrative territory to reflect the complicated reality that is family – and the lasting impact of familial trauma.
Overall, The Deadliest Bouquet is a swift and stylish read, without needing to continually wink-wink-point at its Nineties setting to stoke nostalgia. Sit back and think about things for a second, though, and you’ll find a lot of depth beneath the slick surface. For example, anecdotes about Jasmine’s relationship with her brother help to explain why she raises her daughters the way she does, trying to stamp out their sisterly bond.
This realization helps to explain why The Deadliest Bouquet is actually, and pretty surprisingly, so contained as a tale. Location-wise, it sticks mostly to the Hawthorn family home, flower shop and nearby police station. This keeps a tight focus on its trio of very different heroines, and their spiky dynamic, which comes across with a lot more authenticity than you normally see on the page or screen.
Speaking of the sisters, the scene stealer is unquestionably the “baby” of the family, Violet, who electrifies every scene she’s in with her reckless unpredictability. That same unpredictability makes her an enthralling character but also someone you wouldn’t necessarily want as a sibling. Which is what both Poppy and Rose remind her several times. For the record, it’s Violet who has embraced her mother’s training, working as a globetrotting model and hit-woman, while Poppy has morphed into a suburban wife and mother, and responsible oldest sister Rose has remained at home to help Jasmine run her store.
The Deadliest Bouquet is carried along by these characters, and a similarly well-written supporting cast. History buff Officer Gutierrez, who effortlessly matches her colleagues and the Hawthorn sisters in retorts, is an especial standout. In fact, if you’re going to have any complaints about The Deadliest Bouquet, it’s likely going to be that you wish you got to spend more time with everyone in this sharply written little universe. Of the sisters, Rose remains the most veiled, despite obviously carrying the most resentment about how her life turned out, and it would have been interesting to prod that sore spot even more.
Speaking of sharp writing, there is a lot of snarky humour in The Deadliest Bouquet, and it’s visually supported in expected and not so expected ways. In terms of the latter, the book utilizes some clever lettering to convey the comic’s many muttered-under-her-breath remarks. Borelli and Contreras’s art is suitably sharp and emotionally expressive, although a couple of panels depicting key actions could have been more coherent – more dominant on the page to clearly convey their content.
These are minor stumbles, though, and in their own way they’re fitting. The Deadliest Bouquet understands and makes the point that when it comes to family conflict you don’t always get nice, neat resolutions. Very often a bittersweet ending is the most likely outcome, mixing soft and spiky – just like an artful and impactful flower arrangement.
Issue 2 of The Deadliest Bouquet releases today, 21 September. Issues 3-5 are currently on track to drop 12 October, 16 November, and 21 December respectively. The collected trade paperback edition comes out much later, on 25 April 2023.