Frank Miller & Dave Gibbons, "Give Me Liberty"
Despite the serious sounding title, this is a graphic novel. It�s a serious graphic novel of sorts, but it�s still a glorified comic book. Hey, I did the serious subject matter last time. I can take a break. Hell, I could use one.
I think this was originally released with the title �Martha Washington Saves the World.� In any case, it features one Martha Washington. I suppose this is an origin of sorts.
Sometimes I can�t believe the lack of respect graphic novels get. The same goes for people who read them. So this is a futuristic militaristic fantasy where America is run by a fascistic president. Okay, maybe it�s not that futuristic or fantasy based.
Standard stuff for Sci-fi right? Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and a ton of others that I can�t think of right now, including a couple that I�ve read. But this was better crafted than a lot of them. It�s no 1984 or Brave New World, but it is really good.
Plus, I recently learned how authors need to write for comics. They write the story, which has to be nearly all dialogue. Then you write what picture you expect to see (one reason people like Frank Miller often do the writing and art for their books to ensure nobody else screws it up). It is not an easy task, and though there are hundreds of comics that are pretty lame, Miller seems to always score.
So yeah, this was a really great storyline, so much so that I almost stopped paying attention to the art. Set in the near past and near future (it begins in 1995 and continues through 2012 � why do they always aim so low when they�re trying to make a futuristic narrative?), Martha gets out of the prison/ghetto/forced relocation camp by joining the now-fascist Peace Corps.
There are a lot of snarky jokes like that, usually given for a quick wink and a smirk, like having Mount Rushmore featuring two additional heads, one being President Dan Quayle. Another one comes from a radical splinter faction called the Aryan Thrust, when the spokesperson, decked out in swastikas and leather proclaims on television, �America�s future is white � and male � and gay.�
Now that�s funny.
Plus, unlike people who extol the virtues of things like Buffy the Vampire Slayer for its feminist portrayal of a heroine (not that I�ve seen the show, but I�ve heard the argument), this features one bad-ass woman as the center of the story, and she�s not sexualized for 12 year-old boys who can�t get dates.
Or indeed, 32 year-olds who can�t get dates.
Not that I�d know anyone like that.
