Bitch Planet Triple Feature #1 review

Bitch Planet returns with an anthology series in the margins of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s feminist masterpiece. How well do these stories capture the spirit?

Cover by Valentine De Landro

Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #1
“Windows” by Cheryl Lynn Eaton and Maria Frolich
“Without and Within” by Andrew Aydin and Joanna Estep
“The Invisible Woman” by Conley Lyons and Craig Yeung, with colors by Marco D’Alfonso
Published by Image Comics

Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Bitch Planet shines for its thoughtful world-building and its fearless continuation of feminist dialogue into so many developing aspects of culture. But readers have waited months between chapters, and in two years, the title has only published ten issues. The initial attempt to solve this was with interludes spotlighting key characters with guest artists, but that hasn’t worked so well.

So this week, we feminists get our fix with three stories playing in the rich sandbox DeConnick and crew have built.

In the first story, a woman takes her first job after a tour as lead medic on Bitch Planet. Her new employer holds the key to understanding the violent tragedy that ended her time on the Auxiliary Compliance Outpost. How will she handle the collision of past and present?

In the second, a beautiful young assistant has to choose between finishing a task for her politician boss or defending herself from sexual harassment by his scummy friend. Either way, she’s going to lose.

And in the third, an ambitious business woman can’t get noticed, even with a big hairdo. But when she sees two women updating sexist billboards with feminist slogans, she knows exactly how to get the attention she needs.

The first piece fits neatly into the Bitch Planet storyline, with art that looks just like that of co-creator Valentine De Landro and themes of corruption and gender violence. It doesn’t hook the reader in like DeConnick’s writing does, unfortunately, but it’s a fine read.

The second piece has dazzling art and a meaningful exploration of the political world of Bitch Planet. In particular, the politician sells an idea by saying absolutely nothing of substance. The scene works as both a joke and a scare.

And the third manages to use funny gags about breast size and hairdos without taking anything away from the female protagonist. I hope she ends up on Bitch Planet herself – I’d love to see more of her.

Next: Catch up with the latest review of Bitch Planet!

Are any of these stories as good as what we get in Bitch Planet? No. But they’re good, they scratch the itch, they help us wait more patiently. And even more importantly, they’re raising the profiles of talented creators. This is the publishing strategy we need to keep this concept alive on the stands.