The creative team of Bad Mother comes together again to propose a new genre narrative but finished the feminist thriller and place to Redemption, a postapocalyptic western published by Panini comics.
Go to OK Collapse
As predicted by collapsology theories, the world has collapsed. Screenwriter Christa Faust explains that riots have caused a crisis and forces everyone to fight for drinking. The people of the arid village of Redemption survived, but at what cost? Possessing a monopoly on water, a man rules with an iron fist. Faced with this dictatorship, Rose Obregón fights to save her mother sentenced to death. Will she find a solution in the famous killer nicknamed "The Terror"? This summary of the first pages shows the objective of Redemption: to mix two genre narratives, the western and the post-apocalyptic narrative. We find the codes of the western with a shooting lesson and a fight in a bar. All the action takes place in the middle of a desert: in and around the village of Redemption. This city is not free but it is dominated by a radical pastor and a sheriff… who wears an old bionic eye. The main characters wear cowboy and cowgirl outfits with hats and barrel colts… but with sci-fi weapons and gadgets. Obviously, we think of Mad Max by the global situation of a world after the apocalypse but also by the reuse of old technologies. In addition, this world lacks water. This leads most of Redemption's action to become improbable vehicle chases for a few drops. Several battles take place in ruins.
The motto of the village should be faith or death. A group of survivors sold their freedom for safety. This atmosphere would be nothing without Mike Deodato Jr.'s hyperrealistic drawing. which perfectly renders the dynamism of the action and the desert landscape precise by small boxes. He knows how to be very effective in the fight scenes, brief explosions of violence punctuating Redemption. We can understand his work in the many bonuses with the alternative covers and the comparison between the scenario and the images made. Colorist Lee Loughridge uses the desert to create strong color contrasts between the light-drenched day and the darkness of the night.
Mad Maxima
Redemption goes beyond homage to a genre by reflecting on gender. Indeed, this complete story is a female western in a dystopia. A small community of women struggles against patriarchy from the first chapter. Pastor Stonewater has Inez Obregón whipped for performing an abortion on a raped child. This power of men is multiple – politics, religion and security – by the mayor-pastor and the sheriff. This domination corrupts because it does not serve the inhabitants but aims to maintain the power of men. At the heart of Redemption is the relationship between Rose and her mother but with a strong woman: Cat Tanner, a bounty hunter, scares men so much that she has become a black legend. This wounded heroine chose to step back. However, Rose is convinced that she is also the hope to save the city. The sets also have a political message because the ruins represent the end of patriarchy. This message, however, is as direct as the violence is explicit. If the background is interesting and the story moves very quickly, the dialogues are sometimes clumsy. We find, as in Bad Mother, the same problematic praise of self-defense. Conversely, a reflection on nostalgia is more interesting: is Cat Tanner real or just a legend?
Do you think, like many, that the Imperator Furiosa is the best character in Mad Max Fury Road? Then Redemption is for you. The story is very effective and engaging. We become attached to these strong women who change the figures of the western or the story of collapse.
You can find our choice among the other comic releases of June and another chronicle of the same publishing house with Masters of the universe.
