Bitch Planet 1

In the future, female criminals are shipped off to the Auxillary Compliance Outpost, colloquially known as "Bitch Planet". "Criminal" here seems to mean anything from a murderer to a wife who is not sufficiently subservient to her husband. Issue #1 follows a group of new prisoners as they first arrive at the prison.

The story is overtly feminist, but riffs on seventies exploitation and Grindhouse films. There is a lot of nudity, so if that's not your cup of tea you'd probably better skip this series. I can see what they were going for but personally I think all the gratuitious boobs and pubes undermined the feminist message a bit.

My favourite thing about it was the variation in body types of the women, who come in all shapes and sizes, including the unapologetically fat Penny Rolle.

The first issue doesn't tell you much about the characters, giving only the very barest introduction to them. I am intrigued to see how they will develop as the series goes on. There wasn't much plot so far either so if you find slow moving stories frustrating it might be better to wait until the trade paperback comes out.

Issue #1 also includes an essay by Dannielle Henderson, author of Feminist Ryan Gosling (a book which has a very special place in my heart), that is well worth a read.

Bitch Planet is an exciting new comic with a lot of potential. It will be very interesting to see what later issues bring.

Rating: 3½
Published: 2014

#Comics
#Fiction
#Feminist
#Science_Fiction
#Women_Writers






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