#FoylesFive: Feminism Comes to Comic Books!

The #FoylesFive this week comes from Becky Black of our Bristol branch, who is joyously celebrating the arrival of feminism to the world of comic books.

Finally feminism is coming to comics books!

Gone (or at least slightly further behind us are the days where men dominated the the comic book world), making room for a more diverse array of characters, writers and plots. One of my favourite publishers of these diversified comics is Image, so here's a list of five of my favourites from them:

Bitch Planet by Taki Soma, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robert Wilson and Valentine De Landro  

This is set in a dystopian world where the patriarchy is dominant (haha) and women who are 'non-compliant'  are banished to Bitch Planet, where they are imprisoned indefinitely regardless of their crime - which could be as simple as being overweight. The first volume centres round the imprisonment of Kamau Kongo as she struggles to survive in a hopeless situation.

The art is astounding, with a pulpy 60's feel to it that at once satirizes comics of the time and elevates them. Honestly, this is not a series to miss!

Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act: Volume 1 by Jamie Mckelvie and Kieron Gillen 

Whilst not written by a woman, this series exemplifies everything I love about comics at the moment. It effortlessly combines pop culture and ancient mythology, where every ninety years twelve gods are reborn in to the bodies of young people, who then become superstars.

The first arc centres round the character Lauren, a fan of the Gods, and Lucifer (a Bowie-esque character), as a conspiracy among the gods is born....

Sex Criminals: One Weird Trick: Volume 1 by Chip Zdarsky and Matt Fraction

Again whilst not written by a woman, this series is an excellently sex positive, hilarious and feminist story of two people whose orgasms stop time, so naturally they decide to rob a bank. Fraction and Zdarsky are a dream team who clearly enjoy writing together and also clearly love their characters. The series has everything (including ridiculous sex tips) and is a really good portrayal of modern relationships.

Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Honestly this series is just so good: it's not only an epic scifi story about warring worlds, but also an epic love story about two people from opposite sides of the war starting a family and running from their respective states. It's hilarious, touching, exciting and addictive, read it now!

ODY-C: Volume 1

This is a gender-flipped psychedelic version of Homer's Odyssey set in space - and if that doesn't sell it to you I don't know what will. The first arc follows Odyssia as she pilots her crew through god-tossed space, planets built on the bodies of gods and inhabited by dangerous cyclops in an ever-increasingly dangerous attempt to make it home.