Graphic Novel Review: Viscera: Epic Frail by Nathan Massengill

Viscera: Epic Frail by Nathan Massengill

TRIGGER WARNING: Violence against women.

Genre: Science Fiction, Social Commentary

Publisher: Bad Damsel Media

Publication Date: December 2013

Wendy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Viscera, or so she calls herself now, having defined this viscous “killer virgin” persona from the previous scared, victim, is of a race of humanoid creatures that live secretly among us. The women – assuming they are even permitted to live at birth – are nothing more than property to males who very violently use and abuse them for the sole purpose of procreation. The females have one small hope of survival: a personal shield.

Viscera is a “wild female” and the men love nothing more than to hunt down such treacherous “gashes,” but Viscera has turned the tables on them by inviting them to her fortress, a club called Ringrunners, where any man who can make it through her shields and remove the ring from the hook on her necklace is permitted a “date” with her. Thus luring her prey, she goes through this invitational vigilantism process of killing the men of her race who try to take her.

My summary makes this story sound as harsh and over the top as the story actually is, drawn in violent lines of stark black ink. It is meant to be a story of female empowerment – Massengill’s attempt at putting the power back into the hands of women, telling us that we can make the choice not to be victims (even as he has Viscera purposely present herself as such, trussed up in chains to greet her next victim.)

Viscera does have one moment that I wish had been explored more deeply. It is during an incongruous scene, two pages of mostly text, where she discusses her plans and her former self with Rictus, the one man she trusts.

The book is peppered with quotes from the likes of Mary Wollstonecraft to make the positive intent clear, but the delivery is going to be hit or miss. This will not be an easy book for some to swallow, if they choose to make it past the introduction at all. Some might be completely offended by the attempt. While I was not offended, I felt it went too over the top with Viscera’s defiance. There is no seeking equality or respect. Only vengeance and punishment. Which might be fine for some, but it’s not the lesson I would prefer to see taught. The male victims in this story learn nothing in continually falling to Viscera’s claws, and Viscera gains only an empty victory and the knowledge that she will continue to be hunted until someone finally succeeds in smashing her shields and fucking her to death.