Wednesday Comics – February 11th, 2015

The wait is over.

It’s Princeless day.

Issue one of Princeless, Volume 3 comes out today. This volume is “The Pirate Princess,”  and there’s a big part of me that just wants to all-caps shout “PIRATE. PRINCESS. WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED, PEOPLE?!?!”, then hit enter, then hold shift+1 until my hand gets all crampy, then just call it a day.

The odds of that making it through the approval process are pretty low, though. And sure, if I really believe in the post, there’s a long GiI tradition of being able to challenge Tony to Crit by Combat. If he wins, you rewrite. If you win, you still have to rewrite but you feel sort of powerful and dashing. But that’s really tough to schedule. Easier to just talk about this awesome comic.

The world of Princeless works like this: Got a kingdom? Got a daughter? Well, you gotta make sure she marries a brave, strong, battlin’ prince to succeed you, right? So you should probably go ahead an lock her in a tower when she hits 16. Also, you will want to park a big ol’ dragon outside that tower. Boy finds tower. Boy kills dragon. Boy gets kingdom. Girl is basically a free gift with purchase.

You notice how that sounds like an awful life? So does Princess Adrienne Ashe. With all of her older sisters still trapped in their towers and zero interest in being a treated as a signing bonus for a royal merger, Adrienne informs her parents that she’s going pass on that whole thing. And then wakes up in a tower the day after her 16th birthday anyway. But Adrienne has gumption! And determination! And a sword! So, properly armed, Adrienne decides she’s over this whole “tower” thing and sets off to save herself and her sisters. She makes some friends, gets some armor, and gets to questing.

Then in Volume 2, Princeless – in addition to continuing to give me/the world/me a black princess with a sword- avoids doing the very obnoxious Not Like Other Girls thing. You know, where there’s this AWESOME girl character, but then the story basically says that other girls are vapid, flighty, and just generally not cool like our heroine? That mess bums me out. There are a lot of women and girls in this comic, and the book doesn’t knock the girls who aren’t wannabe knights. That’s pretty important to me. See, it sucks when media feels like it’s saying value = performing “girl” properly. But it also sucks when media feels like it’s saying value = rejecting all things girly. Both of those are about creating a specific image of how to be a girl. Princeless lets it’s characters be people.

This book is a great all-ages choice. But when I say all, I want to make it clear that I mean all. Like many awesome all-ages books currently on the market, Princeless is just a great read for anyone. Yes, the day is fast approaching when I buy this for my niece, but I also read it myself. This is a book I get actively excited about. And now’s a great time to jump on because Volume 4 is slated to come out this summer. And, unlike potentially daunting Big-Two superhero stuff, where finding an entry point can be difficult and catching up can be expensive, this is really straight-forward.

Princeless Reading Instructions:

–Go read Volume 1
–Go read Volume 2
–Check out Short Stories for Warrior Women, too

(Note – all of those are Amazon Affiliate links. If you prefer digital, the books are also available at Comixology)

Now you’re ready for The Pirate Princess. And you’re just generally a happier, more fulfilled person. Except now you’re even more consumed by the knowledge that life would be sooooooo much cooler if you had a dragon.

I know it haunts you. I know it’s difficult. If I could give you a dragon, I would.

I mean…if I had a spare. If I only got one dragon, that’s my dragon. You understand.

Books I’m Picking Up This Week:

All-New X-Men #36
Help Us Great Warrior #1
Princeless: The Pirate Princess #1
Secret Six #2
Thor #5
X-Men #24

Pulllist.comixology.com! Downtown Comics! Comic Shop Locator! Comixology! You know the drill.