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 interesting to the story.
- This collection was released in 2014, with “volume 2” following in 2018 Nothing else has been published for purchase, unfortunately. As near as I can tell, the work is (and will remain) unfinished. You can see a final message from the author and illustrator here.
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). With that said, it’s hard to recommend this one, given that the work is now on indefinite hiatus (see “cons”). Oof.
Check it out here.
You may also enjoy…
- “Rat Queens (Vol 1),” by Kurtis J. Wiebe
- “The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins,” by the McElroy Family
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