So, here are some lady-led volumes about other ladies (and girls) to counter the disrespect:
There’s plenty more where this came from. So let’s give ’em hell, ladies.
I’ve always loved Kusama’s work and in a society where so many people insist on suffering for their art, found her decision to seek help for her mental illness and her insistence on continuing to create thereafter as proof one needn’t always bleed (literally or figuratively) to build something from nothing an inspiration. I’m so glad this graphic biography will bring that message to a wider audience.
What I love about Fierce Heroines is that when I say “badass” I don’t just mean of the ass-kicking sort; those ladies are certainly present but so are the girls who think their way out of danger or plan other people’s way out of it. Who use kindness or straight up enthusiasm to save the day. So many books focus on a single definition of heroism and that can be frustrating to girls who may not be ready, or able to meet the specifications laid out therein; Fierce Heroines lets its readers find the model that best fits them and that is an incredible gift.
Riyoko was one of Japan’s most popular manga writers/artists in the ’70s but this Udon reissue is the first time Rose of Versailles has been available in English. These hardcovers are absolutely gorgeous and contain many of the original issue covers, which had been removed from previous collected volumes, and even some of the original promotional sticker and poster art. Volumes I and II are out now with Volume III to follow in the fall.
