Bomb Queen - A Bad Role Model

When you are in the mood for political incorrectness, debauchery and everything that goes against truth, justice and the American Way - you can usually turn to something written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Pro, the Punisher series "Welcome Back, Frank") or Mark Millar (The Authority, Wanted, Kick-Ass). But a lesser known example of social deviance with absolutely no morally-redeeming value is Bomb Queen - written and drawn by Jim Robinson.

Best described as a super-villain who won her little secret war, she's the unabashed dictator of her own city, New Port City, where she has outlawed all superheroes and every single hypocritical law that prevents her citizens from doing whatever the hell they want - criminal or otherwise but pretty much criminal. Her town is a magnet for the villainous scum that the rest of the country would be glad to get rid of, therefore the American government lets her political entity exist. Thus having full run of her little larcenous kingdom, she basically does whatever she wants, kills whoever she pleases, and fucks whoever catches her eye. Someone pisses her off, she blows them up. Someone REALLY annoys her, she submits them to sexual degradation.

However, the irony with having a population that is as prone to sickening violence as her, she has to remain popular in the public mindset to prevent resistance - and there are many within mainstream American who would love to see a bullet put into her brain. Written with a sly sense of humor that truly pushes your sense of morality to the limit, this hard R series isn't meant for those with delicate stomachs. In fact, I would insist that if you don't come armed with a healthy tolerance for horror movies, HK shoot em ups, pornography and Quentin Tarantino movies, then give this a pass. But if you shrug at the above, enjoy the read.

Let's Get Ethnic - Vimanarama!

There are a LOT of stories out there that take Japanese culture and history as influence. But as far as Asian cultures are concerned, Desi tends to get thrown on the wayside despite having a longer storytelling tradition and just-as-rich context to fall upon.

Bollywood has long been regarded as not-quite mainstream enough to hit Hollywood or comic-dom shores in a big way. Slumdog Millionaire, it can be fair to say, was for many people their first encounter with Bollywood as an entertainment vehicle, despite it not being authentically Bollywood. True Bollywood remains a acquired taste what with its overacting, semi-ridiculous plot points and habit of breaking into song and dance that renders something as serious as Othello turned into Hairspray at the drop of a hat.

Grant Morrison and Philip Bond have done something special - they focus on the Indian community of England, itself the home of a rich and unique culture, (it's also the birthplace of an awfully cool musical subgenre called ethno, blending techno, breakbeat and tabla/sitar music) and tales of the delicate balance of modernity vs tradition, brown vs white, Islam vs Hinduism, etc come to the fore. Writers like Hanif Kureishi, musicians like Talvin Singh, and movies like Bend It Like Beckham all come from this not-too-little community.

Blending this modern UK culture with a Jack Kirby-esque story involving cross-dimensional meta-humans, demonic aliens and reincarnation (we think, we're never too sure) and a heavy dosage of humor is Vimanarama. The storyline is simple, a self-absorbed not-too-bright dreamer/loser named Ali is set into a modern battle in the middle of Camden, London between the ancient cosmic demigod protectors of earth and their demonic rivals who want nothing more than wipe humanity's asses from the face of the planet. But in reality, despite all this - all Ali really wants is for his arranged wife to not be too ugly upon seeing her for the first time. And who knew that she's also the reincarnation of the Lord Demigod Protector's Holy Wife? Dammit! Some guys just have no luck.