Graphic Novels Roundup
All riiiiight let's talk about some graphic novels.
Raven the Pirate Princess vol 3: Two Boys, Five Girls, and Three Love Stories, Jeremy Whitley et al
Friends, mark your calendars. On this day, I, being of sound(ish) mind and body, do admit to actually enjoying a love triangle in a story.
I KNOW.
Being fair to me, this love triangle contains absolutely no boys. It is three queer girls being uncertain and wibbly about each other and this matters a lot to me. I live in hope for an OT3.
Anyway. When Last We Left Our Heroes, Raven's confrontation with her brothers had gone badly, one of the crew had been hurt really badly, and everyone was scrambling to find a thing to do. In this volume, they find that thing: find a legendary healer and get her to help. I quite like this volume because we get to see a lot of Raven's flaws. She's impulsive, brash, reckless, and prone to use violence. However, she's also quick-thinking, loyal, and very loving to her friends. I also enjoy it because we get to see this whole crew of diverse, clever, badass women pull together and make a miracle happen, sort of in spite of their captain.
Finally, I like this volume because we get a bunch of stories. Raven tells one, Sunshine tells one, we even get the tail end of someone else's which sounds embarrassing and hilarious. And we all know how I feel about stories within stories. Good volume, if darker and less funny than the others; I look forward to the next.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. Explicitly diverse, women of every shape and size and color and religion (one of the most capable crewmembers is a hijabi), and a queer love triangle to boot. Also one of the only white-presenting characters so far turns out to be POC. Bite us, fascists.
Princeless vol 5: Make Yourself, Part 1, Jeremy Whitley et al
CONFIRMED QUEER PEOPLE IN PRINCELESS. REPEAT: CONFIRMED QUEER PEOPLE.
Ahem.
In this installment, Adrienne and Bedelia and their dragon Sparky fly north to the mountains to rescue the twins Andrea and Antonia. They encounter dwarves, many of whom are related to Bedelia, and there is a truly heartwarming moment with her grandfather that just, ah, right in the feels. We also follow Adrienne's brother Devin as he tries to rescue his mother from someone who is totally not her alter ego. Definitely not. No way. Anyway, he also meets some interesting people.
Unfortunately, this is just the first half of the storyline. Adrienne and her dwarf companion (whose name I cannot for the life of me remember, sorry!) have just fallen into severe danger, and Bedelia is close to a major conversation with her mother (yes! we meet her mother!) and the volume ends. I will absolutely read the next one, but aaaaugh why must I wait!
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. Black young heroine, explicitly queer characters, a woman portrayed as heroic for leaving an abusive husband (it's complicated somewhat by other circumstances, but leaving him is pretty unproblematic in most people's eyes), overthrowing the patriarchy.
The One Hundred Nights of Hero, by Isabel Greenberg
Queer girls AND the power of stories! Be still my heart.
The One Hundred Nights of Hero is a sort of pseudo-Thousand and One Nights set in apparently a previously established world? I didn't know that, though, and I enjoyed this a lot, so it's unnecessary to read any prequels there might be. Anyway, this is your standard patriarchal fantasy world, where women aren't allowed to read or write, and where a man's word will always be taken over a woman's. The book focuses on two lovers, Cherry and Hero, and their efforts to avoid assault and death after Cherry's husband essentially gives his friend permission to rape her. The friend has one hundred days to achieve this in. Hero tells stories to pass the nights.
But this doesn't really do the book justice. The stories are very unapologetically feminist in bent, and the entire book is a testament to the power of those stories. Women are assaulted and murdered and destroyed, but their stories live on, and in the end those stories inspire something wonderful. As all good stories do. It's a beautifully illustrated book, and it's all about stories. I love it.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. It's literally queer women defeating the patriarchy. Could use more brown people, but apart from that, excellent.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/419981.html. Please comment over there if possible.
Raven the Pirate Princess vol 3: Two Boys, Five Girls, and Three Love Stories, Jeremy Whitley et al
Friends, mark your calendars. On this day, I, being of sound(ish) mind and body, do admit to actually enjoying a love triangle in a story.
I KNOW.
Being fair to me, this love triangle contains absolutely no boys. It is three queer girls being uncertain and wibbly about each other and this matters a lot to me. I live in hope for an OT3.
Anyway. When Last We Left Our Heroes, Raven's confrontation with her brothers had gone badly, one of the crew had been hurt really badly, and everyone was scrambling to find a thing to do. In this volume, they find that thing: find a legendary healer and get her to help. I quite like this volume because we get to see a lot of Raven's flaws. She's impulsive, brash, reckless, and prone to use violence. However, she's also quick-thinking, loyal, and very loving to her friends. I also enjoy it because we get to see this whole crew of diverse, clever, badass women pull together and make a miracle happen, sort of in spite of their captain.
Finally, I like this volume because we get a bunch of stories. Raven tells one, Sunshine tells one, we even get the tail end of someone else's which sounds embarrassing and hilarious. And we all know how I feel about stories within stories. Good volume, if darker and less funny than the others; I look forward to the next.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. Explicitly diverse, women of every shape and size and color and religion (one of the most capable crewmembers is a hijabi), and a queer love triangle to boot. Also one of the only white-presenting characters so far turns out to be POC. Bite us, fascists.
Princeless vol 5: Make Yourself, Part 1, Jeremy Whitley et al
CONFIRMED QUEER PEOPLE IN PRINCELESS. REPEAT: CONFIRMED QUEER PEOPLE.
Ahem.
In this installment, Adrienne and Bedelia and their dragon Sparky fly north to the mountains to rescue the twins Andrea and Antonia. They encounter dwarves, many of whom are related to Bedelia, and there is a truly heartwarming moment with her grandfather that just, ah, right in the feels. We also follow Adrienne's brother Devin as he tries to rescue his mother from someone who is totally not her alter ego. Definitely not. No way. Anyway, he also meets some interesting people.
Unfortunately, this is just the first half of the storyline. Adrienne and her dwarf companion (whose name I cannot for the life of me remember, sorry!) have just fallen into severe danger, and Bedelia is close to a major conversation with her mother (yes! we meet her mother!) and the volume ends. I will absolutely read the next one, but aaaaugh why must I wait!
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. Black young heroine, explicitly queer characters, a woman portrayed as heroic for leaving an abusive husband (it's complicated somewhat by other circumstances, but leaving him is pretty unproblematic in most people's eyes), overthrowing the patriarchy.
The One Hundred Nights of Hero, by Isabel Greenberg
Queer girls AND the power of stories! Be still my heart.
The One Hundred Nights of Hero is a sort of pseudo-Thousand and One Nights set in apparently a previously established world? I didn't know that, though, and I enjoyed this a lot, so it's unnecessary to read any prequels there might be. Anyway, this is your standard patriarchal fantasy world, where women aren't allowed to read or write, and where a man's word will always be taken over a woman's. The book focuses on two lovers, Cherry and Hero, and their efforts to avoid assault and death after Cherry's husband essentially gives his friend permission to rape her. The friend has one hundred days to achieve this in. Hero tells stories to pass the nights.
But this doesn't really do the book justice. The stories are very unapologetically feminist in bent, and the entire book is a testament to the power of those stories. Women are assaulted and murdered and destroyed, but their stories live on, and in the end those stories inspire something wonderful. As all good stories do. It's a beautifully illustrated book, and it's all about stories. I love it.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. It's literally queer women defeating the patriarchy. Could use more brown people, but apart from that, excellent.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/419981.html. Please comment over there if possible.