Bitch Planet #2
Bottled lightning
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Valentine De Landro
Publisher: Image
Bitch Planet #1 did a great job of introducing a foreign but believable world to us. Issue #2 does a similarly great job of introducing the story that’s going to be told in that world.
Kelly Sue DeConnick is on a roll. Most everything she touches turns to gold it seems, and, deservedly so. This comic, Bitch Planet, is something special. It’s a lofty task to try and encapsulate and entire ideology or message into one medium because people are dynamic and inattentive at best. It’s even harder to contain and depict an entire cultural zeitgeist in one story. DeConnick, however, is trying her hardest. It’s paying off.
Issue one did a great job of crafting a world for readers to visit. A place where non complacency or non-compliance are crimes worthy of imprisonment. A place where, it seems, that women are seen almost as second class citizens. Now, issue two is introducing a story to be told in that world. The development of our main character and her supporting cast in this one issue is simply inspired. A fight for identity and freedom is coming for these imprisoned women. A fight too, to change their entire world seems just under the surface. None of the dialogue is forced, it’s human and honest. No single element of this story or its complexities seems unbelievable. Reading almost like a lost episode of the British TV show Black Mirror, Bitch Planet is working because DeConnick writes a realistic and wretched world that mirrors our own.
This is woman’s version of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I don't mean that in the sense that racial issues in our culture are over, because they certainly aren't. I mean it in the sense that this is a non-holds-barred decimation of our mainstream ideologies concious or not. It operates on multiple complex, humorous, violent and terrifying ideas that come together to portray one group’s struggle against a society that wants to diminish them. It’s a warning tale for a modern age.
De Landro is the perfect choice to depict that world visually, too. These characters are dynamic, varied and natural. The world is eerily clean and efficient so far, capturing that taut horror right under the surface of perfection. The settings are broad and changing too with real character injected. During the jogging scene for example, keep your eyes on the background for a real treat.
Bitch Planet is obviously about gender theory at its broadest and about feminism and female identity on a personal level at its narrowest. It wears those messages on its sleeve. What it doesn’t do, though, is pander. This is a complex and layered story that someone could enjoy without thinking about its connections to the real world at all. It’s merely strengthened by its poignant nature, not weighed down by it. The pacing is right, the message is honest and earnest and the art is beautiful. Don’t miss out.
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Valentine De Landro
Publisher: Image
Bitch Planet #1 did a great job of introducing a foreign but believable world to us. Issue #2 does a similarly great job of introducing the story that’s going to be told in that world.
Kelly Sue DeConnick is on a roll. Most everything she touches turns to gold it seems, and, deservedly so. This comic, Bitch Planet, is something special. It’s a lofty task to try and encapsulate and entire ideology or message into one medium because people are dynamic and inattentive at best. It’s even harder to contain and depict an entire cultural zeitgeist in one story. DeConnick, however, is trying her hardest. It’s paying off.
Issue one did a great job of crafting a world for readers to visit. A place where non complacency or non-compliance are crimes worthy of imprisonment. A place where, it seems, that women are seen almost as second class citizens. Now, issue two is introducing a story to be told in that world. The development of our main character and her supporting cast in this one issue is simply inspired. A fight for identity and freedom is coming for these imprisoned women. A fight too, to change their entire world seems just under the surface. None of the dialogue is forced, it’s human and honest. No single element of this story or its complexities seems unbelievable. Reading almost like a lost episode of the British TV show Black Mirror, Bitch Planet is working because DeConnick writes a realistic and wretched world that mirrors our own.
This is woman’s version of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I don't mean that in the sense that racial issues in our culture are over, because they certainly aren't. I mean it in the sense that this is a non-holds-barred decimation of our mainstream ideologies concious or not. It operates on multiple complex, humorous, violent and terrifying ideas that come together to portray one group’s struggle against a society that wants to diminish them. It’s a warning tale for a modern age.
De Landro is the perfect choice to depict that world visually, too. These characters are dynamic, varied and natural. The world is eerily clean and efficient so far, capturing that taut horror right under the surface of perfection. The settings are broad and changing too with real character injected. During the jogging scene for example, keep your eyes on the background for a real treat.
Bitch Planet is obviously about gender theory at its broadest and about feminism and female identity on a personal level at its narrowest. It wears those messages on its sleeve. What it doesn’t do, though, is pander. This is a complex and layered story that someone could enjoy without thinking about its connections to the real world at all. It’s merely strengthened by its poignant nature, not weighed down by it. The pacing is right, the message is honest and earnest and the art is beautiful. Don’t miss out.
A Look Inside
