What do you think?
Rate this book
Smoke And Guns
When Scarlett, an overly ambitious cigarette girl -- quick to break the rules and even quicker to pull the trigger -- starts selling cigarettes outside of her district, tensions rise and the seeds of an all-out cigarette girl gang war are sown. When you're out on the street in the middle of the night wearing your little French Maid outfit, with the short skirt and the off-the-shoulder top, Jack Daniels isn't just your friend, it's your coat. And the 9mm in your tray isn't just your protection -- it's the compass that points you the way home.
104 pages, Paperback
First published September 14, 2005
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 19, 2015
What did I just read? There was no plot whatsoever. The art was not horrible but there was this messy aspect to it that I did not enjoy.
February 8, 2020
Smoke and Guns is like no other graphic novel.
It is almost like a Wes Anderson film. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson say that when they make their movies, they try to describe a world that follows the rules they like, rather than the rules of the real world.
Smoke and Guns — without ever really coming out and saying so — kind of imagines a prohibition-esque world where beautiful girls sell cigarettes on the street… and lethally guard their street corners and local bar real estate with… you know… guns.
Kirsten Baldock was herself a real-life cigarette girl before writing this graphic novel… Though I assume the more conventional type rather than one of the heat-packing adventurettes depicted in this story; you get this sense of sisterhood and hidden knowledge and almost pride from reading the book that you might not expect given the plot.
Smoke and Guns follows the story of ambitious cigarette girl Scarlett who gets into trouble picking a fight with another merry (and murderous) band of cigarette girls, ends up hostess-ing the wrong party after she is disciplined by her madame-esque cigarette-hawking boss-lady, and ultimately excites a gang war. She is not so much the hero as the protagonist for no other reason than the story mostly follows her. I mean she has a really big chip on her shoulder and I think you want to cheer for her in the same way that you want to cheer for Tony Soprano versus any of the other dirt bags and murderers who happen to share screen-time with him. Beautiful? Yes. Nice? Not so much. You get the feeling that Scarlett has everything coming to her, but she has enough Indiana Jones to her that you don’t care.
Pretty girl, pretty girls, cigarettes, turf war… that’s it?
If it sounds like a thoroughly superficial story… It is.
Yet it’s freaking great!
Smoke and Guns moves with a rare velocity in modern comics. Fabio Moon’s visual storytelling can flow from frame-by-frame, panel-by-panel description of a single cigarette being lit, to ice cold ultra-violence, gun-play, and grenades lobbed between nubile cancer-peddlers.
The story tries very hard to be crass — cigarette girls dressing up as everything from sexy nurses to Chun-Li from Street Fighter — but it manages to be demeaning… never. Really never. The book is so overloaded with girl power, the fact that the violent participants are also sexy kind of never comes up.
In that sense, it is a storytelling triumph.
It should be noted that Smoke and Guns was Moon’s first work without his brother Gabriel Ba; and it is well worth the look.
While no one is going to mistake this quick read for Watchmen, Smoke and Guns really does have something unique going for it.
It is almost like a Wes Anderson film. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson say that when they make their movies, they try to describe a world that follows the rules they like, rather than the rules of the real world.
Smoke and Guns — without ever really coming out and saying so — kind of imagines a prohibition-esque world where beautiful girls sell cigarettes on the street… and lethally guard their street corners and local bar real estate with… you know… guns.
Kirsten Baldock was herself a real-life cigarette girl before writing this graphic novel… Though I assume the more conventional type rather than one of the heat-packing adventurettes depicted in this story; you get this sense of sisterhood and hidden knowledge and almost pride from reading the book that you might not expect given the plot.
Smoke and Guns follows the story of ambitious cigarette girl Scarlett who gets into trouble picking a fight with another merry (and murderous) band of cigarette girls, ends up hostess-ing the wrong party after she is disciplined by her madame-esque cigarette-hawking boss-lady, and ultimately excites a gang war. She is not so much the hero as the protagonist for no other reason than the story mostly follows her. I mean she has a really big chip on her shoulder and I think you want to cheer for her in the same way that you want to cheer for Tony Soprano versus any of the other dirt bags and murderers who happen to share screen-time with him. Beautiful? Yes. Nice? Not so much. You get the feeling that Scarlett has everything coming to her, but she has enough Indiana Jones to her that you don’t care.
Pretty girl, pretty girls, cigarettes, turf war… that’s it?
If it sounds like a thoroughly superficial story… It is.
Yet it’s freaking great!
Smoke and Guns moves with a rare velocity in modern comics. Fabio Moon’s visual storytelling can flow from frame-by-frame, panel-by-panel description of a single cigarette being lit, to ice cold ultra-violence, gun-play, and grenades lobbed between nubile cancer-peddlers.
The story tries very hard to be crass — cigarette girls dressing up as everything from sexy nurses to Chun-Li from Street Fighter — but it manages to be demeaning… never. Really never. The book is so overloaded with girl power, the fact that the violent participants are also sexy kind of never comes up.
In that sense, it is a storytelling triumph.
It should be noted that Smoke and Guns was Moon’s first work without his brother Gabriel Ba; and it is well worth the look.
While no one is going to mistake this quick read for Watchmen, Smoke and Guns really does have something unique going for it.
April 27, 2020
This was pure fun, a kind of mashup of The Warriors (if the warriors were all cigarette girls), Sin City and, I dunno, Streets of Fire, where our heroine leads a one-woman battle against the rival "Belle"s that leads to her suspension and ultimate journey across four "districts", and finally all-out gang war.
It's fun, it's funny, it's light noir fantasy which manages to distill the "cool" of noir without ever feeling seedy. Fabio Moon's art style is loose but for the most part very effective. Richard C. Meyer recommended this as part of his sporadic "hard sell" series, essentially for underrated books, which is why I picked it up, but I don't get why it's not more broadly popular, or why it's not higher-rated.
I would enthusiastically read more along these lines and more from the same author.
It's fun, it's funny, it's light noir fantasy which manages to distill the "cool" of noir without ever feeling seedy. Fabio Moon's art style is loose but for the most part very effective. Richard C. Meyer recommended this as part of his sporadic "hard sell" series, essentially for underrated books, which is why I picked it up, but I don't get why it's not more broadly popular, or why it's not higher-rated.
I would enthusiastically read more along these lines and more from the same author.
July 24, 2017
Interesting to see Moon's artwork 12 years ago, and not working with his brother. The pacing was a little odd, and sometimes clarity suffered, but overall it was a pretty fun silly action romp.
February 9, 2017
lots of women in action - I am using them as models for my own drawings.
September 30, 2008
Could've been good. It's about gangs of cigarette girls feuding over territory and laying waste to the city. The author used to be a cigarette girl, and the artist is really good at atmosphere and attitude and mayhem. That's pretty much all there is though, and except for a very few good jokes, the writing is really thin and the plot is arbitrary -- I'm damned if I can figure out why this one character blew herself up in the big battle, except just to give the others an excuse for some sentimental revenge talk. Maybe you have to be a smoker to understand.
April 9, 2016
A fun, fiery comic with more bodies than plot, this book has a lot of style. I like the aesthetic of the cigarette girls and the freedom of having women blow everything up and shoot lots of guns. I suspect this story owes a thing or two to the Old Town prostitutes from Sin City, but maybe not. Taking out irritating people in a hail of gunfire while looking fabulous has to be a pretty typical power fantasy and it's well executed here. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy grittier comics in the Frank Miller vein.
January 3, 2011
I love how Fabio Moon draws women. I loved how he did the second arc of Casanova (nothing to do with this, but had to be said anyways.)
Now this is a Kristen Baldock brilliantly written book filled with women who are trying to do some hard, honest living selling cigarettes. Well women and guns. Scarlett doesn't like the honest part so she dips into enemy territory to sell cigarettes. All hell breaks loose from there. What a world!
Now this is a Kristen Baldock brilliantly written book filled with women who are trying to do some hard, honest living selling cigarettes. Well women and guns. Scarlett doesn't like the honest part so she dips into enemy territory to sell cigarettes. All hell breaks loose from there. What a world!
September 17, 2007
I'm not entirely sure what I think of this book. It was very graphic and violent, which I'm not normally against...
I think this is where the visual versus the written makes a big difference for me. I don't like violent movies, tv shows, etc. I don't mind violent books. With all the pictures, this was closer to a violent movie than a violent book and it put me off.
I think this is where the visual versus the written makes a big difference for me. I don't like violent movies, tv shows, etc. I don't mind violent books. With all the pictures, this was closer to a violent movie than a violent book and it put me off.
September 11, 2007
OK, I'll admit I am giving this a high rating because it is my sister-in-law who wrote it. But you should all check it out - I've started really enjoying graphic novels after being introduced to them.
June 15, 2008
Too silly, both in concept and execution. Characters are too flat. A very empty read with only one part that impressed.
The art, however, was pretty strong throughout of course, coming from Fabio Moon. Make the shallow read even quicker with very efficient and kinetic rendering.
The art, however, was pretty strong throughout of course, coming from Fabio Moon. Make the shallow read even quicker with very efficient and kinetic rendering.
October 13, 2015
This one was recommended to me by the owner of Isotope comics in San Francisco. I was not at all disappointed by the suggestion. Great art, an awesome debut, and a really cool, violent story of rival cigarette girl gangs.
May 5, 2008
One of my favorite graphic novels. A riot grrl's Dirty Harriet in French maid outfits and riding smokin' Harleys.
Read
March 12, 2009What the heck was the point of this? Cute girls shoot each other for no reason. The art was fantastic; it would have been nice if there had been more of a plot to hinge the action on.
May 3, 2010
Part autobiography of a San Francisco cigarette girl, part video game shooter influenced by the Warriors, and with the overall effect of a fun amusing independent comic.
November 4, 2011
This comic is a hot, violent mess. I highly recommend it.
Read
August 7, 2011a fun fun fun book. fantastic art. like a breezy version of sin city.
July 31, 2012
Balazos y fumadas encadenadas por frases ingeniosas y un reguero de bajas. Quizás el tabaco sí es nocivo.
February 8, 2015
Tarantino could make a fun Grindhouse movie out of this. Lots of violence and atmosphere - recommended.
July 27, 2010
A pisser. Graphic,sleazy, questionable. Fun.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews