Bitch Planet Volume 1: Extraordinary Machine

by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Robert Wilson IV (Artist), Taki Soma (Artist), and Valentine De Landro (Artist)

“...one of the
most unique and subversive artifacts of pop culture in recent memory.” -
Salon.com

"Seldom do comics burst
onto the scene and shatter our worldview by being entirely poignant, raw, and
captivating - but then, most comics aren't Bitch Panet." -
Entertainment Weekly

Eisner
Award-nominated writer Kelly Sue DeConnick (Pretty Deadly, Captain
Marvel) and Valentine De Landro (X-Factor) team up to bring you the
premiere volume of Bitch Planet, a deliciously vicious riff on
women-in-prison sci-fi exploitation.

In
a future just a few years down the road in the wrong direction, a woman's
failure to comply with her patriarchal overlords will result in exile to the
meanest penal planet in the galaxy. When the newest crop of fresh femmes arrive,
can they work together to stay alive or will hidden agendas, crooked guards, and
the deadliest sport on (or off!) Earth take them to their
maker?

• ISBN10: 1632153661
• ISBN13: 9781632153661
• Publish Date: 20 October 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Image Comics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 136
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

This series has been on my TBR list for way too long, so I’m really happy that I finally made it around to reading it (well, the first volume at least. Baby steps!). The series is by Kelly Sue DeConnick (whom I will forever love for her work on Captain Marvel) and Taki Soma (the artist that gave this series its iconic look).
Bitch Planet is set in a not too distant future, where patriarchy has gone to the extreme end of things. Women who do not comply are sent to a prison planet (known as ‘bitch planet’) where they will never have a chance to come home. The list of things considered noncompliance for a woman is terrifying, and it makes you wish that this is a world we’ll never end up seeing.
Having read this series I have to say that I think fans of the Handmaid’s Tale would like this series – especially if they’re looking for something with more of a sci-fi twist on it. And yes, I really do think this series is intense enough to deserve that comparison. It’s beautifully written, but intense.



Warnings first: In a series like this you can probably expect some of the warnings I’m about to give. There’s a lot of controlling behavior shown, comments on women’s looks and weight (yes, that is one of the compliance issues), men having affairs with the women being punished for it, and outright abuse. It can get pretty rough at times.
When I finished reading Bitch Planet Vol. 1 I honestly just sat there, staring out into nothing for about a half hour. I’m not sure if it was the world itself, the plot, or the conclusion, or maybe a combination of all three, but it left me emotionally stunned. It hit me in ways I couldn’t have predicted or prepared for. For what it’s worth, I honestly believe that’s a good thing, but I did need a little bit of time to recover!
Whenever I read a series that tends to border on the dystopian side I try really hard to prevent myself from getting attached to the characters. You just never know what’s going to happen to them. I tried that here, but I completely failed. I can’t say that I grew attached to all of the characters, but there were three or four I was fond of by the end.
That made seeing them in this situation so much worse. I wanted to see these women succeeding, not getting beat down – in a literal sense sometimes. A couple of the characters I was fond of before they took the time to tell us their back stories, others I needed their life story in order to feel more connected. It was a good call to let us get to know so many of the characters, even if it did break my heart a little bit.
This series is intense. I honestly can’t say that enough, or put it more bluntly than that. The world these characters live in is not a good one. I think most of us would like to believe that it’s a world that we’ll never see – one that couldn’t ever be possible. But hey, you never know, right? That’s the whole point of the series. To show us the sliding slope of these things. To make us aware of just how bad it could get.
I’m both looking forward to and dreading the next volume. I know that it will be brilliant, but I also know that I’m emotionally invested now. I may take a bit of time before I go and read it…but I will get to it!


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Chelsea]

Read for Popsugar's 2018 Reading Challenge #19: A book about or involving a sport

[celinenyx]

Though Bitch Planet had been recommended to me by several of my reader friends, I never picked it up. Something about the title, the clear aggressiveness of the premise put me off. Not another book where women are the downtrodden cast-off subjects, I thought. Sometimes I just want to read about what women can do, not what they cannot.

And although Bitch Planet is a patriarchal dystopia on steroids, the characters shine as a bright light. Much of what happens in the book will make you angry; but simultaneously it gives us characters to root for and to love. Encased in a wonderfully dynamic panelling and storytelling, Bitch Planet won me over with its wry humour and intersectional feminism.

If like me you were put off by the cover or the premise, pick it up anyway. This comic is worth looking into.

[Hillary]

I first came across this on a blog, I don’t remember where exactly but I liked the idea so much I ordered it from the library. I am not sure exactly what I was thinking but it was not of the woman being sent to an off world “prison” for being non-compliant. This can take the shape of not submitting to men, being fat among other things. Seriously who comes up with theses ideas?
As an obese person myself I was somewhat taken aback but I read on and I ended up liking it. The prison woman is forced to play this game, I THINK it may be somewhat like the Olympics? Anyway, they are being forced to compete against men and the organizers of the game are hoping that the woman will be killed. OKKKKKKKK BUT the prison woman on “Bitch Planet” have an idea to take down the games from the inside. And that is volume one.
It is one of those comics that I wanna hate but I can't look away. In fact, I am going to get volume two. I have to know what happens. Do the bitches take down the game? Do they end up dead? Do they overhaul society? All these questions are running through my head.
The artwork is….explicit. Heh, there are plenty of bitch on bitch sex scenes. #Sorrynotsorry Seriously ya’all I turned a page and was like OMG. SO the artwork is exquisite. And I like the prison woman. Life on the bitch planet is rough but the women have ways of getting back at their jailers.
Of course, I realize that this is supposed to be a reflection of today's society and the bitches represent feminism but I had some issues with the way the fat woman was portrayed. Like all the woman get a lesbian lover but the fat one? HMMPH, What are you trying to imply comic? That I can't get any action as a fattie? I will let you know that I HAVE gotten action while fat SO THERE!.
I appetite the nod to feminism I really do. Woman are still held back in today's society and that needs to be addressed. However, I felt it was a big slap in the face to see how that one fat woman was portrayed. But maybe the comic redeems itself laster on. I hope so. Even though I had issues and am giving it three stars I will still read Volume two to see where the plot goes.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

[Heather]

Are you a compliant woman?  Do you do everything the men in your life want you to do?  Are you skinny and attractive?

If not you might be sent to the Auxilary Compliance Outpost - otherwise known as Bitch Planet.

This volume covers the first 5 issues of Bitch Planet.  A new group of women have been sent to the planet, including a former athlete named Kamau Kogo.  On Earth there is a very important sporting competition called the Duemila or Megaton.  The producers want to put together an all-female team from Bitch Planet for the entertainment of the male spectators.  They chose Kamau to lead it.  The women agree to do it, not like they really have a choice, because they have a plan to take down the event from the inside.

 
I particularly like the end of each issue. There is a page of advertisements that make fun of the ads that you see in the back of comics.



The story is ongoing so I'm interested to see what happens when the next volume comes out.

 This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

[inlibrisveritas]

Bitch Planet has been a true surprise for me. I admit to having very little interest in it when it first hit the shelves, mostly because the comic recommendations I’ve received have been mostly misses and not many hits. Hype has a way of over inflating qualities that really does more damage than good, so I’m always a bit wary when it comes to super hyped comic books. However…Bitch Planet is one of those comics that withstands the hype…in fact it’s not hyped enough and people are getting tattoos after only 5 issues.

Bitch Planet focuses on women who have been imprisoned for varies reasons, mostly having to do with their willingness to being themselves with no apologies when the rest of the women in the world are molding themselves to beauty standards set by men. It touches on a huge variety of issues which all stem from a gender bias society. There are women who are imprisoned for nothing other than a husband’s disdain and women who have been pushed to the breaking point. There are men who are forced to hide the fact that they are emotional and view the women in their lives are something more than decoration. It’s a very in your face story where the action and struggles are over the top…but it draws a clear line to this issues in our own society. I’m utterly in love with these characters, especially Penny who has her own backstory comic (#3) and made my stomach clench almost painfully at times.

The really amazing thing about the individual issues (and perhaps the trade, I’m not sure) are the essays in the back. Each issue has it’s own essay of a different topic ranging from sexual abuse to being proud of who you are, and to me this takes a comic book that is already leagues ahead of others and pushes it even farther. There is a section in the 4th issue’s small essay by Kelly Sue where I just knew this comic book will probably be among my favorites forever.

“I am finding the courage to be my authentic self, whomever he or she may be. I do not fit the box assigned me: I am too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, too loud, too soft, too silly, too serious, too masculine, too feminine, too passionate, too shy, too angry, too proud, too black, too brown, too devout, too atheist, too slutty, too frumpy, too gay, too whatever-the-fuck it is that my culture will condemn me for today and I refuse to cede my power. I refuse to see myself through your eyes, just as I refuse to cast that same lens on my brothers and sisters. I will my head high and you will support me or get the fuck out.”