Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine

I'd hesitated picking up this book for a while, after I'd over-hyped myself on Pretty Deadly, also by DeConnick, and it interfered with my first reading of that book. But then I was at The Strand, and this book was out on the featured comics table, and I decided it was about time to give it a try.

Now, this book has a lot of set up to do. It has to introduce an entire world, a good-sized cast of characters and the relationships between them, the power hierarchies of this world, and the beginnings of the main story. It's a lot to accomplish, and at the end of this slim volume, which comprises only the first five issues of the comic, it would be easy to feel like not much plot has taken place. And that may or may not be true. But this book show more gets five stars for ATTITUDE. I'm willing to let out all kinds of rope for the plot to get going as long as the attitude stays this fierce. From the personalities of the women of Bitch Planet, to the palpable snark when observing those who put them there, to the satirical/retro adverts included throughout. And not just white!feminist attitude, but intersectionality and subversion of blaxploitation and girls in prison films, and even literally attacking the male gaze in a lesbian shower scene.

As long as DeConnick keeps the attitude this fresh, I'd buy at least 3 or 4 TPBs before a lack of plot could put me off. And, as it turns out, I've got a fair amount (a huge amount) of faith that she'll have no problem pulling the plot together.

Highly recommended. show less

Bitch Planet is a comic series by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by Valentine de Landro. Volume 1 collects the first five issues.

Plot:
In the future, non-compliant women are sent to prison. A prison that takes up an entire planet and is colloquially referred to as Bitch Planet. Non-compliance encompasses many things - from violent crime to not being considered attractive enough, maybe because, like Penny, you're fat and have shaved your head - and you don't give a fuck about what anybody thinks. But when you put women like this together, even under the worst circumstances, they aren't likely to take things lying down.

Bitch Planet is a damn amazing comic, a feminist take on prison exploitation (movies) with emotional impact and a show more great sense of humor within all the politics. I loved it.

Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.com/2017/09/02/bitch-planet-vol-1-extraordinary-machine-kelly-s... show less

Bitch Planet wears its politics on its sleeve, and I love it for it.

I love that it's unashamedly in the exploitation film mold, while still delivering kick after kick to the balls of a patriarchy that looks only just exaggerated.

I love that it's clever and darkly funny about it even when it waves its banners, constantly shows different angles on how prejudice affects everyone in different ways.

I love the art, that checks all the old women-in-prison stereotypes, nudity and all, but never feels sexualized.

I love the not-exactly-subtle but still clever use of the words "father" and "mother", hijacking Family Values(TM) for fun and profit. Mostly profit.

I love the brutality of it; those in power share exactly as much power as suits them, show more step across that line and the grandfatherly we-know-what's-best-for-yous and are-you-sure-you-wouldn't-rathers look exactly like a fist. Everyone knows that, but doesn't want to believe it applies to them. "Trust me", says the person who won't hesitate to have you killed if you don't - because they know the same applies to those above them.

I love that it's a comic book, the sort of larger-than-life POW! SOCK! WHAM! medium where this actually works, where the characters get to be their colourful selves, trapped on a planet and in a medium of their own.

I think I will love watching some people get exactly what they deserve. show less

This series is SO DAMN REFRESHING. It is an absolute indictment against all kinds of double-standards, it reads like a play-by-play scrapbook of everything that's wrong with PEOPLE. It's not just men versus women. It's everyone against everyone, with the heroes being only those people willing to live by the "I just don't give a fuck anymore," standard. Good for them!

Is this a book about modern feminism? Hell Yes. Is it skewering in bright satire everything that's wrong with us? Hell YES.

Men are the obvious targets, of course, but the commentary about women who are complicit in the system is truly scathing.

Add all this to a damn brilliant script and effortless character development and fearless willingness to show real women with show more natural bodies that are nude over practically every other page and equally IJDGAFA because they're on a prison planet designed for women, and you've got yourself a beautiful pink brawl of a graphic novel well on the way to becoming a personal favorite across any genre.

Yeah. I'm white and I'm a guy. So the fuck what? It's like I've been waiting for this comic all my life. I've hated the way women are treated and treat themselves ever since I could even think for myself.

I hate all the fuckwits that reduce people into tidbits and object lessons and self-reinforcing shamebarrels of defeatism. Most of my issues with YA literature revolves around the way it turns girls and women into the nightmare versions of themselves instead of just REAL PEOPLE.

This here comic is putting all the crap thinking on a spotlight, and I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.

If you think I'm joking about the message, then sit down and read the short essays at the end. I'm so fucking proud of these women. All I can really hope for at this point is that it becomes a runaway global success that crushes the patriarchy by the sheer weight of Penny. Or it's own hollow ideals. One or the other, it doesn't matter.

It's a WIN, either way. show less

A blessed relief after the nonsense that was The Mothers. A celebration of non-compliance, an angry finger jabbed in the chest of the patriarchy, and a bloody good read to boot. I will try to pick up more of these.

I have heard quite a bit about this graphic novel and also heard it compared to Rat Queens. While it does have similar feminist themes to Rat Queens, it was quite different. I honestly didn’t find the plot, world or characters as interesting or engaging. It was still an interesting idea and well done; it just wasn’t for me personally.

In a futuristic world where things have turned back towards ultra-femininity, women can be arrested and imprisoned for a variety of non-feminine crimes. Examples of these crimes include being obese, being willful, being boring so your husband cheats on you, etc. With the ability to create small planets it’s been decided to start an all women's prison planet...affectionately dubbed Bitch Planet. In an show more effort to make Bitch Planet more profitable they want to put the women prisoners up against professional athletes for sport.

The whole thing is very tongue in cheek and ultra-violent. Definitely an adult only read; there is tons of violence, nudity, and some sex in here. I enjoyed the little crazy advertisements in between chapters about how to please your husband and avoid Bitch Planet.

The female characters span a variety of classes and backgrounds. We get some good backstory on a few of them. I was really finding the story interesting until it sidetracked into this whole sporting event description and then went down the path of pitting women against pros in very unfair scenarios for sport. The whole thing reminded me a lot of Deadman Wonderland at that point ( I stopped reading Deadman after the 5th volume because I lost interest).

The illustration is well done and full color. It’s easy to follow the story and remember who’s who; all the characters are very distinct. The concept is kind of interesting (although planets of criminals have been done before and so has the whole let’s make criminals entertain the masses thing). I did enjoy the fact that this was satirical and very tongue in cheek.

Overall this is well done but it wasn’t really for me. There was too much violence and nudity and I just didn’t find the plot and/or idea all that intriguing or creative. I did enjoy the satirical quality to it, but I didn’t engage with the characters or story well enough to be interested in continuing the series.

While this does share the whole feminist theme that Rat Queens does, I enjoyed Rat Queens a million times more. To me Rat Queens was just more entertaining, more laugh out loud hilarious, more creative, and more heartfelt. I actually enjoyed DeConnick’s Pretty Deadly series a lot more than this one as well and really look forward to reading the next book in that series when it releases. There won’t be anymore Bitch Planet in my future though... show less

Bitch Planet is a dark, grim dystopian story about a future that bears some resemblance to that of The Handmaid's Tale combined with Rollerball and a small dash of The Hunger Games thrown in. In its brutal and graphic pages, Bitch Planet reveals that oppression often comes with a smiling face and soft comforting words, while freedom can feel harsh and ugly. But for all its cruelty, the story is also about standing up for oneself, refusing to yield to those who would break you, and that in the face of overwhelming odds, a woman can still be defiantly non-compliant.

At the outset, one should be clear that this is definitely a book that should be limited to mature audiences. The society depicted in its pages is a misogynistic dystopia run show more by a group who call themselves the Fathers, and who regulate almost every aspect of the lives of the citizens they rule over. They certainly control the lives of the men who live in this future world, but they are exceptionally interested in making sure the women who inhabit this nightmarish existence are subdued, controlled, and compliant. This is not a pretty or sugar-coated depiction of a dystopia. No, it is a brutal and harsh vision that is expressed in a stark and uncompromising manner. There is brutality and nudity in this graphic novel, and its unrelenting gaze never leaves the ugliness.

Much of the story takes place at the Auxiliary Compliance Outpost, an off-world facility where "non-compliant" women are sent, colloquially called "Bitch Planet". Women end up at the facility for any number of crimes, ranging from assault and murder, to aesthetic offenses and wanton obesity, or merely because their husbands tired of them. In an early sequence that sets the tone for much of the volume, a man named Collins approaches an official claiming that his wife has been mistakenly arrested and is due to be shipped to Bitch Planet. As he tells his tale about how he had an affair with a woman named Dawn and his wife refused to accept her responsibility for it despite counseling and other steps, he says that he paid off the authorities to have his wife shipped away, but that he loves his wife and wants her back, offering his remaining funds to grease the wheels. Intercut with Marion Collins, freshly admitted inmate at the ACO telling her side of the story and begging to be released, as she is sure she doesn't belong there.

The twist is that when Collins' wife is returned to him, it isn't Marion, but rather Dawn, who was mistakenly picked up because the only information the arresting officers were given was to arrest "Mrs. Collins", and they thought she was the woman they were meant to bring in. Marion, on the other hand, finds herself in the middle of a prison brawl and is murdered by one of the guards with her murder being pinned on another inmate, the protagonist of the story Kamau Kogo. Because Kamau was a professional athlete before she arrived on Bitch Planet, the prison uses the murder charge as leverage to get her to agree to form a team of prisoners for the sport of megaton, to participate in the professional league against the established teams of men. This sport is something like a combination of rugby and American football, with less regard for petty concerns such as safety, and is so dangerous that when star player Rickey Fontenot dies on the field during a match, no one is particularly surprised, or even concerned.

The demand to assemble a megaton team sets the main plot of the book in motion, as it combines the machinations of the Fathers - who are interested in good television ratings and in making an ideological point about their dominance over women - and the anger and rage of the women cast out by a society that is rigged against them. Of course, the game is rigged against the inmates too, and they know this. But what women like Violet, Meiko, and especially Penelope know is that winning is not nearly as important as taking a stand. Even more importantly, they show that the important thing is to remain yourself while you are standing defiantly. Even when the Fathers try to use technology to show Penelope her "ideal self" so that they can try to "fix" her, they discover that she is what she wants to be, and cannot be broken so easily. They key to the story is that it isn't the victory or loss, but rather the fact that one is still in the game that is the most critical element, and the women of Bitch Planet most certainly want to play the game, no matter if it is unfair, or if they risk their lives doing so. Some things, it seems, are worth such risks.

The book builds to a climax involving a practice match between Kamau's team and a team comprised of guards from the ACO, and it is here that the story hits its only discordant note. Although it is clear that the Fathers intend to rig the matches against the women of Bitch Planet to the extent necessary to ensure they lose and lose badly, with many injuries and even some deaths, it seems odd that they would engage in such shenanigans in a match that is both meaningless and non-public. Making an example of these women in a situation in which no one is watching seems like a pointless and even counterproductive exercise. Should the players refuse to continue, then the public spectacle that the Fathers desire is lost, all so that they can win a pissing match that doesn't matter. In fact, if the Fathers truly wish to break the spirit of Kamau's team, then engaging in such blatant cheating at this stage is unlikely to accomplish their objective. Instead, giving them false hope and then pulling the rug out from under them would seem to be a more effective strategy. Despite the false ring that this sequence provides, it does end the volume with a dark (and tragically ironic) event, closing the volume on a note appropriately bleak for a dystopian work.

Bitch Planet is, quite simply, absolutely brilliant. It is frightening, horrifying, and devastating, while at the same time being brutally beautiful and inspiring. The compelling and varied female residents of Bitch Planet draw the reader in, engaging the reader in their struggles and what small victories they can call triumphs. On the other hand, their opposition in the form of the prison guards and the Fathers, although often terrifying, seem to be bland and mostly uninteresting as characters. This book walks a fine line between futile despair and heroic defiance, and mostly lands on the "heroic defiance" side of the ledger, resulting in a book that is dark, grim, and yet still possessed of a kernel of hope.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. show less