Voodoo #1

Series: Voodoo
Words: Ron Marz
Images: Sami Basri
Issue Number: 1
Release Date: In reality September but our cover reads November 2011
Format: Comic


I was planning on doing an update on this comic last week. It was one of the first ones I meant to read of our pull. I was the one who insisted we get it and mister boyfriendface wasn't overly sold on it. Somehow though it ended up hidden away almost immediately and I've only just got a chance to enjoy it.


He did very kindly suggest that I read the comic that I wanted us to buy because it was “pretty good”.


So I'm writing this as I read for a change. And I'm sort of glad. Apparently the main character Voodoo is a stripper. I have all sorts of worries about this. The main character is certainly hyper sexualized in the art on the first panel. She after all is crawling around on a stripper floor in very little.


The male investigator watching Voodoo is sorta a dog. He's very unlikeable so far. He doesn't hide the fact that he's enjoying watching women take off their clothing for a steakout.


His partner though is another story. She's pretty kickass. She also doesn't seem to like him much which makes her so easy for me to identify with. Despite my total inability to beat a crowd of angry young men who threaten me with my fists.


Half way through the comic the writer puts some of my fears at ease. One of the women while trying to find a replacement for her baby sitter out of the other strippers announces “Look around it's single moms, kids trying to afford community college or just pay the rent.”


And the page by page update ends here because holy my goodness it really did redeem itself in a big way. We've got ourselves a shape changing cliff hanger giving potentially mind blowing goodness. It vaguely reminds me of the Grifter whose review I apparently forgot to upload here (coming soon). Looking into the history of both characters apparently this is because they are two slices in the same story. The alien's in Grifter are the same alien's in Voodoo. Only Grifter was written from the point of view of a human alone who was fighting against an alien invasion. Voodoo seems to be a monster / alien / some creature trying to pass itself off as human for who knows what reason and trying to use hyper femininity as a guise to collect information. I see all sorts of not only cross over potential but complimentary story lines showing the same story from several different points of view which excites me.


The use of a hyper sexualized female lead is totally explained within the context of the story and it shifts. So far one of the few comic's I have read where the author has gone out of the way to give a context behind why the female main character is an extreme of hyper femininity and overly sexualized. And my feminist self bought the explanation and is looking forward to reading more. Of course when I see an author doing that it means I look them up . This time that was not much of a help. To be honest I'm not familiar with pretty much any of his works. I have no idea if they are just as amazing or if they are able to balance women in comics in a way that does not fill me with rage. I am in love with what I have seen so far with Voodoo and I hope it lives up to potential I have seen in issue number 1.


Voodoo is not traditional D.C. not by any means. I would heavily suggest it for anyone who likes science fiction. Who enjoys alien invasions and is interested into expanding into comics. Or if you just want something different. It is well worth picking up in single issues and I will get back to you as the story progresses if I would also suggest it in trade version. Because I'm pretty sure I'll also be buying that.