Tags
2010s, 2015, exploitation, gender studies, graphic novel, Image Comics, Kelly Sue DeConnick, prison planet, Robert Wilson IV, science fiction, Valentine De Landro
Important Note Dept: As you can probably guess, I’ve been a bit busy with Real Life(TM) this summer, and while I’ve been productive at many things, I sure as hell have not been productive at blogging—I’ve been reading at a glacial pace, which caused my writing to lag as well since I need to, y’know, read things before I can review them. Rather than disappoint everyone with silence, instead I’ll just post reviews of things most of you don’t care about: graphic novel reviews and art posts! I have a bunch of short graphic novel reviews stockpiled on Goodreads and elsewhere, and some half-completed art posts I can finish up. What a time to be alive!
Image – 2015 – Valentine De Landro.
In the future, women deemed “Non-Compliant” are sent to an offworld prison known as Bitch Planet to die. Their society reveres male figureheads as “Fathers” and urges women to be doting Stepford Wives and to stay in line, and those who rattle the cages of this social system suffer from a bad case of non-compliance. Living on Bitch Planet is a harsh life of brawls with guards and the occasional riot, but things start to change when inmate Kamau Kogo is tasked by the system to form a team of players to join the hypermasculine sport of Megaton, sort of like far-future-football. Things won’t be easy, with several subplots up in the air, and many satirical over-the-top jabs to be made. And on Bitch Planet, no one is safe…
There’s a long and storied history of feminist science fiction offering futuristic utopias/dystopias that oppress women, but I can’t say I foresaw one that approached by way of ’60s/’70s “Grindhouse” exploitation films, particularly the “women-in-prison” subgenre. That sounds like a recipe for a regressive, pervy mess, but Team Bitch Planet instead makes it a visceral, powerful, satirical voice of third-wave feminism. Now that I think about it, using oppressed women in prison allows DeConnick to approach feminism alongside other issues: prisons, police brutality, racism, etc… all of which are issues of power anyway, issues of control and power imbalances and inequality. So, the perfect intersectional meeting point. This is a book that challenges you, makes you think, and isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty from shoving issues like trans-phobia or body shaming in your face. And it conveys that rage in a smart, savvy, mature manner that just clicks, especially with satirical back covers that cut down to the bone:
Example of one of the back covers, made up to look like one of those old comic book advert pages.
I’m not kidding when I say that this is probably the most important comic I’ve ever read. If Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Pretty Deadly is art because of its beauty and style, Bitch Planet is art for its message and purpose. Walk-don’t-run to your nearest comics purveyor to buy this. If at all possible, get the individual issues (either physical copies or digital issues on Comixology) because each one is packed with fantastic columns and letters, which aren’t included in the trade paperback. The columns are on-point essays about feminism and race from noted scholars and authors. And reading peoples’ reactions to the series via their letters is just amazing. This is a damn good series, and I hope it keeps going forever. At least until Deconnick is done telling the story she wants to tell. Hell, I’m adding it to my pull list, and I haven’t bought comics as they came out pretty much ever…
Book Details
Do I recommend this/will I continue reading it?: Are you fucking kidding me, I just called it the most important comic I’ve ever read.
Recommended for fans of: Orange is the New Black, Saga, Monstress, ODY-C, Lumberjanes, Ms. Marvel, Rat Queens, Margaret Atwood, feminist SFF in general
Not recommended for readers who: are misogynists; are prudish; don’t like fun and hate themselves
Title: Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine
Author: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Illustrator: Robert Wilson IV, Valentine De Landro
First Published: 2015
What I Read: Kindle/Comixology digital edition
Price I Paid: $10 ($1.99/issue sale)
MSRP: $9.99 tpb / $7.99 ebook ($3.99 Kindle/Comixology)
ISBN/ASIN: 1632153661 / B018YD04NM
Battered, Tattered, Yellowed, & Creased 
Holy moly, most important comic you’ve ever read? I mean, this was already on my to-read list, but it has just ROCKETED like into my hands. Will order later today, even I think. Hot damn. I mean, the hype over this was working on me, but now I am *really* fucking excited.
Also, I care! I care! Review all the graphic novels and comics!
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Haha, thanks Nikki! I hope you enjoy because it really impressed me, but of all the ones I’ve read recently it’s the one that I think you would dig. (I seem to remember you being a fan of Rat Queens, and if not, then that would be the #1 I think you would like, then this one.) There’s a lot of hype around it, but believe the hype. It good. So, so good.
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Been meaning to get around to this for awhile. And yep, I second the call for more comic reviews. I like my sf old and my comics recent! For instance, have you read the new Prophet, perchance?
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Well, more comics reviews are coming, I have around two years of backlog to post as filler (plus about a dozen trade paperbacks I never did review, and I’m on the fence about reviewing them).
I have not read Prophet, but it is on my wish list! It sounds like something I’d enjoy, but I like to buy the first volume of new series when they’re on sale because I’m cheap that way.
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SOLD! Thanks Chris. Like Nikki above, this has been on my radar but I needed this review to convince me I need it in my life. And I am old enough to remember those old comic book advert pages. Ah, nostalgia. Oh god, another comic to add to the monthly list.
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You really do need it in your life, run and get it 🙂 And yes, I loved those old vintage ads and spent way too much time pouring over them. The first comics I started reading were hand-me-downs, my parents found a huge box of old ’70s-’80s Marvel comics at a yard sale or thrift shop, and gave them to me when I was sick some rainy day. And almost every one had a back cover with those x-ray glasses or giant submarines and other cool nostalgic junk!
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This is probably the only graphic novel series that has ever caught my attention. I’ve been interested in it since the first time I heard of it. I still can’t quite make myself commit to getting it, simply bc I’m not a visual reader so I miss big chunks of graphic detail (and I realize this is a skill, not a trait, and something I could improve on by simply reading more graphic novels). If I never commit to reading it, I know I’ll be missing out.
Great review, Chris! I’m even more convinced now!
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I think you’d enjoy the content and premise, but yes, it’s hard to get into graphic novels when you’re not a visual reader. And there are a lot of background details in here that are worth picking up on… I find myself reading things two or three times, since I focus too much on the text and want to look more at the visual details.
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I actually got interested in this one even before my recently awakened interest in comics because the concept sounded fascinating (and I may also have a *cough* slight weakness for the “women in prison” subgenre). I’m more than a bit miffed to now learn that they actually left stuff out of the trade paperbacks, though – I was probably just naive but I always assumed that when it says “collects issues x-z” that means, you know, actually all of the issues. Ah well, time to get those recent and as-yet-un”collected” single issues, I suppose. And of course, to actually read the series. 😛 Which i, like many more people here, feel even more motivated to do after reading your excellent review. 🙂
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Normally what’s cut from the trade paperback is 1-2 pages of notes, some ads, and a teaser of the next issue’s partially-completed cover. Bitch Planet really packed in their columns though, those killer extensive essays and multiple pages of letters (which are often empowering, heartbreaking, or both). At some point in the run they announced that the trade wouldn’t include the columns due to space constraints, which is a real shame, but there was also talk of compiling the essays into their own trade when there’s enough of them.
And yes, you need to read the series, because it is excellent and awesome and a wondrous thing. Volume 2 is just as good, if not better!
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