Smooth Criminals

Legally Blonde screenwriter Kiwi Smith teams up with cowriters Lustgarten (Misfit City) and Amy Roy and artist Leisha Riddel for a retro heist comedy as bubbly as Crystal Pepsi. In 1990s San Francisco, Brenda, a community college student and undercover computer hacker, accidentally frees Mia Corsair, a glamorous cat burglar, from cryonic stasis. The last thing Mia remembers is being frozen in the 1960s by the villainous Ice Man, just as she was about to make her biggest score. “A woman without a plan is no woman at all,” Mia advises Brenda, and the two quickly recycle Mia’s plot to steal the Net of Indra, a diamond artifact coincidentally about to go on display at a local museum. But Mia’s reemergence catches the attention of her wealthy former arch-rival Hatch Leonard, along with two federal agents (who resemble Mulder and Scully of X-Files fame), and her mother, who’s currently in federal prison. Meanwhile, Mia and Brenda bond and banter while building a makeshift training course in Brenda’s room and rallying her courage to meet her online crush. The double-nostalgia vibe is fun: Mia, the image of the Swinging Sixties in her catsuit and free-love sensibilities, struggles to master ’90s slang and keep up with Brenda’s references to Friends and Quentin Tarantino movies. The lively art shines with pop art color. It’s light fare, but it goes down smooth. (Jan.)