Review: ‘Wicked Things’ #6 Closes One Mystery, Leaving Another Wide Open

Lottie may be the prime suspect in an attempted murder, but that doesn’t mean she can’t solve a few crimes while clearing her name. She’s helping the police department put a stop to a string of casino robberies in the area and that means going undercover to get to the bottom of things.

Wicked Things began with a big mystery with Lottie right at its center, then it quickly swerved to the main character’s work with the police department. While this has been fun, the main whodunit is still up in the air. This issue – and this mini-series – ends without a resolution to that. As much as I love Lottie’s adventures, I felt hanging with this as we don’t get any answers as to what happened. It feels like this series was meant to be twelve issues instead of six and it got cut off halfway through.

Discounting this glaring omission, Wicked Things is a whole lot of fun. Despite being knocked down a peg thanks to this accusation, Lottie is still sniffing out mysteries left and right. She can’t help herself. She makes connections that no one else can even think of and it always comes together by the end, no matter how ridiculous they may seem at first.

Writer John Allison pulls quite a few twists and turns in Wicked Things #6. This issue is packed full of intrigue and excitement as this heist goes off the rails and Lottie and the police move in for the arrest. All the while, Lottie seems completely in control, even when she’s held at gunpoint.

I will never get enough of artist Max Sarin’s work. No one does facial expressions like them. So much emotion is conveyed in each one and they always bring a smile to my face. This borders on cartoony, but only in the best possible way.

There’s one page in particular in Wicked Things #6 that really stands out. Sarin shows both sides of a walled section, with Lottie and the criminal on one side and the rest of the cops on the other. It’s shown with the wall removed so we can see how close they really are to one another. It’s a great piece.

Although Wicked Things leans more on the comedic side, there are some serious moments. Letterer Jim Campbell drives these home with great sound effect work that explodes on the page.

As we dig into the details of the casino heist, there’s quite a lot to unpack. Some of this is told while other pieces are shown. There’s a nice bit with a gun hidden inside a cast that’s shown like an x-ray. Colorist Whitney Cogar brings this out in a serious fashion, balancing with the rest of the lighter moments.

Wicked Things wrapped up one mystery with its final issue, but it left the bigger one wide open. This fails as closure to this mini-series, however it still delivers the laughs, intrigue, and heart that have come to define the work from this creative team. Here’s hoping we get to see them revisit this world and these characters again soon to complete this story.

Wicked Things #6 from BOOM! Studios is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.