You don’t really expect much from the title except maybe something a little campy or just not serious at all. How serious can an executive assistant be? They fetch coffee and set up meetings all day. Executive Assistant Iris is a story that is completely opposite of what first comes to mind.

Iris is employed by Mr. Wai-Hong Ching, for him she does everything a good assistant would do. She gets him tea, readies the jet at a moment’s notice, fights off gun toting maniacs, and assassinates obsolete directors of the board. Iris was hand-picked from a mysterious academy where girls were trained to become assistants/bodyguards. Because Mr. Wai-Hong Ching picked Iris himself she is blindly loyal to him, never giving a second thought to his demands no matter how loathsome they may be. But, of course, Mr. Wai-Hong isn’t just a filthy rich business tycoon. There is a reason people are trying to kill him and I’m pretty sure it’s not because he’s such a nice guy. From the book’s synopsis, Mr. Wai-Hong Ching is much worse than the people trying to kill him, which really isn’t hard to believe. This sets Iris up with having to make a choice: Continue working for a man that is worse than the devil himself, or break free of his grasp and try to do the right thing, whatever that might be. Whatever it is, though, will probably involve lots of guns and partial nudity.

Executive Assistant Iris definitely hit the radar as something I would have a good time ripping apart and making a bunch of snide comments about, but I liked it, I really did. It was an impulse buy--I saw the title and thought, "Why the hell not?" It’s no masterpiece, but it’s fun and the story is intriguing. It’s created by David Wohl and Michael Turner who were part of the team who brought us Witchblade, so Iris sort of comes from that same mold--a perfectly crafted woman who oozes sex and could kill a man with a sideways glance and a push-up bra. The writing is decent with good action and the characters are interesting, and Iris’s inner monologue really makes her come off as trained monkey, which she is. You do want to keep reading, and the end is set up nicely with a cliff hanger. I’m definitely in line for issue #2. I’d have to say this is a surprise hit, though probably one that will get more attention than other sleeper hits because of the creative team’s history.

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