Tap Dance Killer #3 Puts the Crazy Back into Comics

The Vaude-villains are a group of criminals unlike anything existing in comics. Created by a person or persons unknown in TAP DANCE KILLER #1, they were an innocent group of actors hired to play roles in a horror musical, transformed through chemical means into being psychologically traped in their roles. While on-stage, they performed the deed they were programmed to -- the elimination of members of the Vitalli mob family.

And after that? Why, consequences, of course. Family matron, Carlotta Vitalli wants revenge for the murder of her son, and not even prison is going to hold her from her crusade against the Vaude-villains. Meanwhile, the manic mob has gone on to recruit new members, through the dubious experimentations of Klaus, now known as his character Fletcher. In the show, Fletcher would animate the dead, but he's having a bit of trouble doing that now. Bu he's managed to do other things, like convert a disgraced boxer into the killer clown, Punchline, and disfigure a young girl into the psychotically broken Lizzy, whose straightjacket arms weild deadly daggers.

So while our heroine, Nikki St. Clair, the Tap Dance Killer, engages in other roles to sniff out their next caper, Lizzy gets loose in the safehouse. Fletcher manages to get her back under control, but when the mob leader, Sir Terror, insults her, she lets loose with her dagger, stopping just short of his face. This is an important moment, because we see that Sir Terror's life flashes before his eyes, and we're left with the question of whether or not he might be on the verge of escaping his conditioning.

But those answers will have to wait. Because there's a warehouse to be robbed before a rival gang bombs it to pieces.But within, Nikki is going to face a choice other than just loot.

The storyline of TAP DANCE KILLER continues to be frenetically fast-paced, with a deeply intricate plot that never takes the time to stagnate. Ted Sikora's story is something completely unique, the sign of a writer thinking outside-the-panel, as unpredictable as it is addictive. For the most part, Nikolaus Harrison's pencils are clean and tight, but appear a bit rushed in places like Carlotta's calling the family to action. Regardless, this is an old school comic with a new school of style and flair, completely unique, wholly enjoyable, and highly recommended.