Publisher: Image
Writer: Alissa Sallah, Dylan Meconis, Kit Cox
Artist: Alec Valerius, Vanesa R. Del Ray
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Print/Digital $3.99

Now here is a title to get those highly tuned political correctness pulses in a tizzy. Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3, a spin-off from the main Bitch Planet title, is a hard-nosed attempt to grab attention for either the right reasons or the wrong ones.

True, some would say that a title like Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 has no positive connotations at all, but provocative is as provocative does and it’s up to you, gentle reader, to decide if Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 lives up to its reputation as intimated by the blatant 1950’s throwback, and very classily executed I must say, cover or not. The basic pitch is this: “In a future not so far away, troublesome and offensive women are jettisoned to the off-world penitentiary commonly known as BITCH PLANET”.

That noise you hear may well be the sound of collective hackles rising all across the land that such a premise should even be considered, but if we’re looking at strap lines, this is Prisoner Cell Block H in space. Hey, it worked for Alien, which was Jaws in Space so why not here in Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3? For those who haven’t picked up on it yet, there is a coda which tells us that: “BITCH PLANET is a dystopian, feminist sci-fi take on exploitation genres that attempts to be both satirical and intersectional.” I’ll take their word for it, but even if Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 is created by and overseen by women, does that necessarily make it satirical or more or less acceptable that if it was a male only creation?

The three stories in Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 are well executed, twist in the tale types which, given the premise of the series, kind of gives away the punchline each time. My favourite is the final story, “Love, Honor and Obey”. A stylish, hard-boiled detective noir tale in evocative black and white artwork, it creates mood and tension, but is unfortunately as predictable in its denouement as the other two stories in Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3.

Be provocative all you want, even be downright offensive if you have a serious point to get across, but Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 feels like a toe in the water attempt to see what it can get away with without really upsetting the status quo. Does Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 demean women, highlight intolerance and shine a spotlight on twisted patriarchal dominance? Yes Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 does, but not in any way that’s likely to bother anyone.

If you like sabre-rattling then Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #3 is for you. Everyone else would appreciate just one of these stories in an anthology title with a more diverse menu of subject matter to choose from.

 

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker