Tuesday, May 28, 2019

"Strong Female Protagonist (Book 1: V1-4)," by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag

Strong Female Protagonist, by Brennan Lee Mulligan and illustrated by Molly Ostertag follows Allison Green, formerly Mega Girl, as she tries to navigate her "post-super," life.  After years on the beat, she's given up crime-fighting (but retains her powers).   In her, "new," life, she has to juggle college, a job, and a world that hasn't let go of her previous identity.  As such, she struggles with the ethics of super-heroism, and how to truly change the world for the better.

Pros

  • The story is an interesting deconstruction of the superhero genre; I appreciate that the story considers the practical and philosophical implications of superheros in the "real world," even if it does so imperfectly (see: "cons").
  • The story sets up a lot of threads to potentially pay off (e.g. superheroes as nationalist figures, the execution of superheroes who would truly change the world, etc).  This could be a pro or a con depending on how things shake out in the coming volumes, but I am listing it as a pro for now.

Cons

  • The art style means it can be hard to differentiate characters, and especially background characters.  This issue is compounded by the fact that most background characters come and go quickly.
  • Action scenes are scattered and only OK, especially in comparison to more battle-focused work (e.g. "One Punch Man").
  • While I appreciate the intellectual discourse, the writing can be very heavy-handed.  At times it feels like Philosophy 101 with superheros as case studies instead of being a story.
  • Nit-pick: I found the little post-scripts that were included on the bottom of many of the comic's pages were a distraction rather than adding anything especially interesting to the story.

Conclusion
The book doesn't rise to some of the greatest heights of comics, but it's fun for what it is.  I found the philosophical debates to be heavy-handed at times, but it didn't stop me from finishing the comic and purchasing the next omnibus (volume 5-8).  Ultimately, I'm curious to see how (or perhaps if) the various plot threads will play out.

Final Score:
7/10

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