Written by: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art by: Valentine De Landro
Publisher: Image Comics
Bitch Planet #5 is a remarkable issue.
Up until now the series has been a bit of a slow burn, although the commentary was much welcome and much needed. Kelly Sue DeConnick has gained many fans from her run on the title although so far we’ve only been treated to a massive about of world building, some character insight, and a very bare framework for an upcoming plot.
Issue #5 finally digs us deep into the story while simultaneously pointing out just how brutal the world of Bitch Planet is by giving us the first deathsport match for the Bitches. Spliced in between moments of the match are key panels of what’s going behind the scenes. Even though they aren’t outright saying anything you can’t help but feel like it’s going to be very, very bad.
We do end up finding out about some of the other girls through brief blurbs as the match goes on and DeConnick manages to set up enough intrigue to make us eagerly await the backstories of some of the other girls. DeConnick was smart to mark the major crimes of these girls as vaguely impossible because it leaves so much of what they actually did to the imagination which helps us identify as each and every one of these characters. After all, can’t we all say we’ve been fighting the gender norms to a degree? And more importantly, what does it say about a society that determines ownership of our own bodies is a criminal act?
That being said though, DeConnick has been giving us a hell of a lot of surprising panels and this issue has a finish that feels like a punch to the gut. It’s set up was beautiful, it was carried off brutally, and DeConnick has made it known that this is not a series that we can map out on our own. It’s a series that doesn’t play by any rules. It’s a series that crafts its story on its own terms.
In a way, Bitch Planet is non-compliant itself.
Valentine De Landro continues to have great art that is phenomenal fit for this title. De Landro uses frames to their utmost advantage and every has a nice and crisp, clean look. At times, those panels take on a sort of organized chaos of their own as they showcase various different points of view. It’s effective and manages to use up a full two pages in a beautiful way. Characters still look great, of course, and I’m happy to see that there’s a lot of time being put into their body language and personalities as well as their individual appearances.
Along with using said panels to an advatange, De Landro seems to take it one step further and offer up small background clues. I don’t want to ruin too much but a few key panels and a smart fake ad seem to advertise that there might just be something else going on that may shake up the world. If they aren’t a bit of foreshadowing than it’s still testament to the fact that De Landro seems just as inclined to demonstrate the politics of Bitch Planet at all times as does DeConnick.
With this issue, DeConnick let’s us know that we’re going to start getting more essays, letters, and fan art from people which is by all means a welcome addition to an already solid series. Among these are the growing number of non-compliant tattoos. Despite there only being 5 issues, it’s easy to see that Bitch Planet has taken on a large and diverse fan base that seems committed not just to the series itself but the very ideas that Bitch Planet discusses and breaks down.
Bitch Planet is a good comic not just because it entertains, but because it also comes hard with a message that would be deemed non-compliant by most. It isn’t just cementing a solid fanbase; it’s actively creating one.
Bitch Planet #5 might just be the best issue of the story arc thus far but the next issue is certain to be one hell of issue (and continues the idea of every third issue being devoted to a character’s back story).
Bitch Planet might not be for everyone but it certainly should be and this issue proves the fact that it can stand up on its storytelling just as much as any other title out there can.
We just get a little more with each issue; and issue #5 promises us a very Bitchy future indeed.
