Painkiller Jane is back (and bloody) in Heartbreaker graphic novel

Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker excerpt
Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker excerpt (Image credit: Romina Moranelli (PaperFilms))

Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada's Painkiller Jane is back with a new 48-page original graphic novel titled Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker. Scheduled to debut this November as a Kickstarter-first project, Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker will be written by Palmiotti and drawn by Romina Moranelli.

"Our story begins in the mean streets of New York where a series of murders takes place and Maureen sticks Painkiller Jane with the task of having to take a survivor across the Atlantic to Italy and return her to the mob family she never knew she had," Palmiotti says in the announcement. "Along the way, Jane deals with car chases, assassins, and runs into an old mercenary for hire girlfriend with much more than killing on her mind."

As with virtually all of Painkiller Jane's comics since the title's 1995 debut, Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker is decidedly 'adult' in terms of language, violence, and nudity.

Check out this unlettered preview of Painkiller Jane - Heartbreaker - some elements have been obscured by Palmiotti due to their adult nature:

Through his publishing company PaperFilms, Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker is raising funds and taking preorders on Kickstarter. This is Palmiotti's seventeenth Kickstarter campaign, with all 16 previous ones exceeding their funding goals.

Moranelli has drawn the primary cover for Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker, with variant covers drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, JG Jones, Josh Burns, Dave Johnson, and Amanda Conner. All but the Conner cover have been released - check them out in this gallery:

Painkiller Jane has been previously adapted as both a live-action movie and TV series. In 2016, Jessica Chastain signed on to star and produce in a reboot of the Painkiller Jane film, although there's been no update on that project.

Painkiller Jane: Heartbreaker is expected to debut this November.

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Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)