Not too long ago, I interviewed Ethan Young about his Eisner-nominated comic Nanjing: The Burning City, where he shared a short blurb about his upcoming comic about a female warrior. That book, titled The Battles of Bridget Lee: Invasion of Farfall now has a release date and a trailer which I whole-heartedly recommend.
First of all, Bridget Lee is an ex-combat medic at the outpost Farfall, who has to fight against alien invaders (the Marauders) while also confronting her own war trauma and grief. It may have something to do with the fact that she’s a strong Asian woman defending children and Mother’s day just passed, but I’m absolutely in love with her character. Young shared previously that he’s consciously exploring themes of gender and nation in his new book:
I’m not tackling the one-child policy per se, but the unintended consequences of that policy, such as the reinforcement of China’s cultural preference of boys over girls which resulted in an initial explosion of orphaned girls (but over the years you saw more boys being abandoned, especially if they were sick or disabled). That’s the element my next book will explore, the displacement of children, and a society’s preference for boys over girls, and what kind of dynamic that might build in a futuristic world.
Young introduces us to a detailed sci-fi world in the midst of war through his protagonist, and his use of composition and color say as much as, if not more, than the dialogue. Some of the battle scenes remind me of Nanjing in the red and orange color schemes and the way Young captures motion in his action sequences. Also striking is his use of silent scenes, something he said “lets the story breathe and unfold on its own” in Nanjing. Naturally, world-building often calls for more text, but it’s very cool to see echoes of his black-and-white portrayal of warfare in the colorful and futuristic Farfall.
The Battles of Bridget Lee comes to comic stores on September 21st, or you can pre-order it. If you can’t tell, I’m already very invested in Bridget Lee and I hope we’ll get to see more of her in the future!
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