Women up to the task in Big Girls

Men are victims of a strange disease that transforms them into giant monsters whose sole purpose is to ravage the world. To fight against these "Jacks", the army uses giant women. Indeed, as their leader parodying Spider-Man says, "Sometimes big problems involve big solutions." The young Ember had the honor of being selected for this role, but she has more and more doubts about her usefulness and the role of this Big Girls agency.

Big Girls is therefore at first reading a tribute to action movies – many of you know the poster of the movie Attack of the 5O feet woman – and Kaiju – Godzilla is the archetype. The fights are breathless from the beginning. In addition, the screenwriter avoids the pitfall of starting with a prologue on the origin of this disease but chooses to plunge the reader directly into the action by attacking a giant and an Ember patrol in the reserve. Indeed, to protect themselves from the "Jacks", the survivors live in these closed neighborhoods. This situation is comparable to the Green Zone, an ultra-protected area of Baghdad for Western expats. Through short and regular flashbacks, the reader discovers the motivations of the characters and the stakes of this new world. Indeed, society has become colder and more brutal because we must accept sacrifices to save humanity, even if it means killing a child who risks becoming an uncontrollable giant. Science particularly worries Ember's superior, Superior Marshal James Tannik, because it is because of research on gigantism that the "Jacks" would have appeared.

Jason Howard demonstrates in this first work as a screenwriter that he is a complete author. First known as a talented cartoonist who worked with Robert Kirkman (Wolf-Man) and Warren Ellis (TREES), he realizes with Big Girls a very old project: to write his own stories independently. You feel this feeling of total freedom. Howard is no longer required to follow a specific script but he can navigate between his project as an author at the beginning and his sudden desires as a cartoonist. His drawing has also gained in simplicity and depth. Through his framing choices, he manages to make us feel the gigantism of the Big Girls and the power of Jacks. A box showing Ember lying down with small scientists evokes Jonathan Swift's Gulliver.

On the second reading, we discover that, behind the action and the impressive scenes, Jason Howard addresses us a very current attack on patriarchy. The Jacks are vicious bullies who destroy without a plan, but they are not the only ones threatening the Big Girls. Women can certainly save the world, but Ember is only a tool pampered and most often rushed by his superior. He despises survivors who have not been given the privilege of living on reserve. Ember is less of a soldier than a barrier to defend the reserve. We gradually discover his painful past on a farm. At a very young age, she had to leave her family to join the army but also to prevent her father from ruining himself to feed her. Born out of frustrations about the current state of the world, Howard wants to bring nuance and common answers through a science fiction narrative. Indeed, not all men are a danger and all women protectors. You will discover in the course of the story a more complex situation even if the motivations of the leader of the insurgent group are quite disappointing. Two camps form and the book ends with an insane confrontation.

We can also salute the work of 404 comics which publishes here its second title. This young collection provides careful work in every detail (cover and back with a phosphorescent title). For example, it is quite unique to see at the beginning of the book the publisher explain with humor and passion his paper choices.