Nathan Massengill

Viscera, also know as the Killer Virgin, comes from an alien race in which women are little more than slaves to men, their only purpose to procreate. But Viscera is different, unique – she is the only free woman left. She wears a silver ring around her neck. Any man who can take it from her will get one date. Taking the ring isn’t hard for the men of her species; taking her, on the other hand, has proven deadly for every man who has tried. But now there’s a new man after her, he has taken her ring but his interest is that of a fanatic, a man who believes that a free woman is an abomination and her death is the only way to put things right.

Epic Frail: Viscera is the first in a graphic novel series by Nathan Massengill who is both writer and artist and, given the stated intended purpose of the novel, it is no surprise that Massengill was involved in the production of graphic novels based on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer which I will admit is still one of my favourite shows even after all these years. And, because of this, I so wanted to read and like this graphic novel. In the end though I had very mixed feelings about it. The things that made Buffy such a great character - she liked men both as friends, sidekicks, and lovers; she also liked other women as friends as well as sidekicks; but, perhaps most important, she was able to accept help when offered or needed while always remaining her own woman – she represented female empowerment at its most positive and powerful.

The female protagonist here felt less like a strong heroine and more like a woman who deliberately set out to entice men so that she could take revenge on them. There is no hint of hope or possibility of change in this world – it is stark unending violence with no sense of letup or a positive outcome – this is not female empowerment but Dirty Harry in skimpy drag. In the end, Viscera is not much different or better than the men she is battling- perhaps that was the point and perhaps, since this is the first in the series, this would change in future issues…perhaps but unfortunately there is little here to entice me to read future issues.

Still, I liked the art that perfectly complements the bleak nature of the story – the black and white illustrations seemed to have been slashed across the pages denoting this violent world and Viscera’s actions. They are as gritty and dark as the storyline. And I love Massengill’s work on Buffy – sadly, I can’t say I liked Epic Frail but that doesn’t stop me from looking forward to other things by him in the future.… (mehr)

This book is an epic failure for trying to portray any sort of female empowerment. Instead, it try to milk out those sentiments by producing this kind of garbage. It was a genuine short read with all sort of misogynistic and BDSM symbolism in black sharpies. There were parts where it was pretty structured, some in long words while the rest was just an artistic expression of someone's "kaki ayam" scrawl. I have no better english word for that btw.

This novel have a good intention to portray all sorts of the wrong things like women who are deathly conformed into being sexualized creatures functioned only to get laid and procreate. And the main character uses all of this stigma to gain an upper hand to the guy who want to rape and intentionally impregnate her by being seductive at the face of her would-be rapists and sexually tantalizing in all her naked glory because she had this invisible shield that protect her from these would be attacks that the later part of the book was an epic violent altercation involving a speeding subway train, a sewer and a gigantic hammer.

Colour me not pleased. I'm not sure what the author use drug himself to think that this was in anyway educating about violence against women in graphic novel form. I could keep an open mind about the possibility of it but the end product was disappointing. I suppose there was a long lengthy explanation to all of these and symbolism including some fine lines and vague words in the dialogues but this is the part where the 'show' contradicted the 'telling' part in the most mind-boggling way. I appreciate black and white renderings like Sergio Toppi but there were a lot of potential to the art for this book but when you're bombarded with all sorts of sexual objectification, female body exoticism and fleshing out the physical fragility of a woman in face of brute force she knowingly place herself into while maintaining a veil of control, it became a complete fluke. There wasn't even a plot in it and neither was an ounce of realism as it is probably a legit sci-fi as they're all aliens but apparently common sense and intelligence was lacking. But mistaking female empowerment by consensual sexual abuse and vigilantism? That was a very long shot in the spectrum of awareness in any sexual violence.

I got duped by the promise of a strong female character. Sure, she's pretty invincible with her sharp nails, stiletto heels and anti-rape force field. But that was just a trope using comic book logic written by men who can't understand how some grandmothers can be a real strong female character. When depth and intelligence became optional over superficial vague madness, landfill is the appropriate solution. As someone who had experiences with aggressive assault in sexual nature and also a supporter of female's right, the book is disturbing but its more disturbing when it try to sell you that the idea of achieving sexual independence was to literally dangle yourself into a situation where you purposely became a bait for potential rapists. Whatever message it have or any subtle plot it might trying to portray, it was destructive that no matter how you play it out through these sort of limited perspectives and barren plots, you end up doing the same thing you're trying to educate your readers against.

The ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)