Bitch Planet #4
Publisher: Image
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Valentine De Landro & Cris Peter
Cover: Valentine De Landro & Cris Peter
There’s a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the comic industry and the fact that a title like Bitch Planet is on the shelf is one of those! DeConnick continues some great world building as she focuses on the history of the games that Kamau is assembling a team for. There’s also the revelation of why Kam has been asked to gather this team of inmates together and what their intended purpose will be. But that’s not all as we also get to see that Kam has a few tricks up her sleeve and an agenda all her own.
Everything about Bitch Planet has been what you’ve been looking for when seeking out a new title. I could oversimplify it by saying that it’s just a combination of a good story and strong visuals but that’s really doing the creative team’s work a disservice. DeConnick’s characters are shaping up to be some of the standout ones of this year and their story is told as raw and visceral but at the same time with heart. Made evident in last issue’s Penny Rolle origin and now that we also see Kamau has motives beyond herself. The society in which this story takes place pretty much has it’s boots on the necks of the women who exist here and Kelly Sue does a fine job going from the subtle to the more up front social injustices. She also gives us the “obligatory” women’s prison shower scene but the sequence is anything but! Both are two of the strongest scenes for varying reasons though DeConnick puts some more action into the last one.
From the cover to the last page De Landro and Peter are still kicking more butt than Kam in shower with these visuals. The opening with the title is always a nice way to kick things off as it looks as if it’s coming right at you. Kam sitting and going over her choices is a strong scene especially when you realize why at the end of the book. What really stood out though was Fanny’s NC (Non Compliant) patch over her eye. It’s just a thought provoking and strong visual piece because we haven’t seen that so openly on the other women. There’s also a nice shift in the color palette during the “Megaton 101” video that helps keep things interesting as well.
This issue was a little late but it was so worth it as it is with all things that are good. And when the reason is the team trying to give you a good story without compromising things then you can look past it. From the So, do yourself a favor and add Bitch Planet to your pull list or just recommend it to a friend as well. It’s a series worth looking into and it’s only four issues in so you don’t have that much to catch up on!
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.ne
