Bitch Planet: a heartbreaking call to arms

Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro’s Bitch Planet isn’t known for its subtleties.

That’s not to say the comic is devoid of nuance or quiet moments; in fact, there are plenty. But I’ve always seen Bitch Planet as more of a call to arms, a sledgehammer to the face of the society it reflects. In telling the story of a distant future where the patriarchy has gone unchecked and become omnipotent, and where nonconforming women are sent to the hellish galactic prison in the title, Bitch Planet destroys any notion that society treats women fairly. And it’s in those shattered pieces, the unanswered questions about the flaws of our reality, that the comic book’s true power lies.