Noir Burlesque is a French comic book series by Enrico Marini, taking place during The '50s.
After a hold-up gone wrong, a gangster named Slick finds himself deep in the red with the local mafia boss Rex McCinty. But that's not the only thing setting them at odds: they also have their sights set on the same woman, the beguiling Caprice. She's engaged to Rex and headlines his club, where she thrills the nightly crowds. She's off-limits, but Slick has never been one for limits. And he has unfinished business with Caprice, who was once his own sweetheart before the war pulled them apart. After all these years, there's no love lost between them, but that doesn't mean the old spark isn't alive... And now, they're playing with fire.
Tropes in this work:
- A God Am I: Rex has a list of rules based on the Ten Commandments hung up on his office wall.
- Asshole Victim: Slick leaves Rex trussed up for Don Zizzi to find when the latter's gang comes storming Rex's hideout, leaving Rex to face his rival's wrath and a dozen bullets in his body. Given that he's a ruthless mobster who harmed countless people, he certainly won't be missed.
- Big Bad: Rex McCinty, who Slick is forced to work for to pay off his brother-in-law's debts.
- Bittersweet Ending: More on the sweet side than the bitter. Rex and most of his gang are dead, freeing Slick from his debt and allowing his sister and nephew to live in peace, with Rex's stolen money being able to set them up for life. However, Slick breaks off his relationship with Caprice for good after she sold his family out to the mob.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: During his one-man storming of Rex's base, Slick uses Punch as a human shield against Rex's goons.
- Butt-Monkey: Rex's nephew, Sharky. He gets his nose broken by Slick for not understanding an order he made, breaks his wrist when he tried to punch Slick as payback for the aforementioned broken nose, gets judo flipped by Pearl when he tried to kidnap her, gets shot in the ass by Don Zizzi's goons while trying to escape, and Pearl ends up shooting him to death after stealing his gun.
- Crazy-Prepared: After Butcher kills the counterfeiter on Rex's orders, he prepares to kill Slick as well. However, Slick reveals that he had the counterfeiter keep a shotgun under a table in case a deal goes wrong. While the counterfeiter doesn't get the chance to use it, Slick does.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Slick and Caprice ultimately do not get together even after Rex's death, due to the latter revealing that she sold his family out. While Slick lets Caprice go, he takes her car and the money she stole from Rex as compensation and makes it clear that they're through.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Rex's rival, Don Zizzi, is an equally ruthless mafia boss with a soft spot for his deceased mother. His prized possession is a painting of her by Picasso himself.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Slick may be a thug but he has a soft spot for his sister and nephew.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While Slick is a two-time crook, he draws the line at killing civilians.
- Femme Fatale: Caprice harkens back to the femme fatales of the Film Noir genre, using her beauty to manipulate both Rex and Slick into doing what she wants.
- Fille Fatale: Pearl can pull off the fatale part as well as Caprice despite being a teenager. She easily seduces Rex's nephew Sharky into letting his guard down, only to steal his gun and kill him with it. She also tries to pull this on Slick, though he does not fall for her charms like Sharky did.
- The Irish Mob: The Big Bad, Rex, is the leader of one.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: When Butcher, Rex's enforcer prepares to kill Slick once he outlived his usefulness, Slick invokes this trope to get Butcher to discard his gun and settle things with good ol' fisticuffs. Butcher does, only for Slick to pull out a shotgun from under a nearby table and shoot him dead.
- Mafia Princess: Pearl, Don Zizzi's daughter.
- Ms. Fanservice: Caprice gets more than her fair share of nude or near-nude scenes. Justified given her profession as a burlesque dancer, though she's willing to use this offstage to get what she wants.
- The Napoleon: Rex's cousin and right-hand man Punchy is a short man with an equally hot temper. Slick even makes a jab at his height when discussing Punchy's failed Hollywood career, saying that the dwarf parts were unavailable.
- Pet the Dog: Or cat, in this case. A noisy cat outside Slick's window wakes him up just before Rex's men come crashing into his apartment. After dispatching the hitmen, Slick brings the cat to a diner and gives it a bowl of milk.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: While on a stakeout with Slick, Rex's nephew Sharky laments about not having the chance to fit in World War II, bragging about wanting to kill Germans (who he refers to as "Krauts"). He proceeds to call African-Americans, homosexuals, and communists as trash. Of course, given who he is, it's implied that he's simply talking big.
- Psycho for Hire: Rex has a Hungarian mobster named Crazy Horse who appropriates the worst stereotypes of Native Americans, which includes scalping people with a tomahawk.
- Sexy Coat Flashing: In Issue #2, Caprice drops by at Slick's place wearing a black trench coat. She then takes it off, revealing to be wearing lingerie underneath.
- Surrounded by Idiots: How Slick felt about the team Rex sent to help him break into Don Zizzi's house, snarkily referring to them as the Marx Brothers when he gets chewed out by Rex after Don Zizzi's painting gets damaged.
- Work Off the Debt: The reason why Slick got himself involved with Rex was because his brother-in-law owed the mob a lot of debts.
