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jvillanueva8's review against another edition
2.0
This was not good. The authors clearly thought they were smashing the patriarchy here but instead they stroked their own egos while writing their idea of how women “are.” The art was lazy, the story was unfulfilling, and the characters were pitiful.
jhouses's review against another edition
3.0
La contraportada no engaña y estamos ante Sexo en Nueva York con superheroínas. Digo esto sin intención de denostar porque la verdad es que se deja leer y es entretenido. El dibujo es del hermano pequeño de Jordi Labanda (figurativamente) pero cumple su función.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly good at a week in the life of a super-heroine. This book is almost completely focused on the real-life rather than the super-life. And the fake advertisements are kind of brilliant. It's basically a look at the life of celebrity and not in a positive way. But the characters come off different and interesting if not especially original.
taydaliese's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes I found it to be a little heavy on the romance aspect instead of the action, but I still loved it. I've been on a comic kick lately and I'm forcing myself to expand past Batman. The characters were gorgeous and I loved how humanizing they were despite the fact that they were superheroes. I'm a little disappointed that Jen and Pearl didn't end up together, but I understand the fact that that may have ended up in a ruined friendship so I respect where that was taken in the long run. The girls were all so wonderful and the artwork in this book is ASTOUNDING. I love the Ads, I love the creativity behind the "interviews". It's unique and well thought out in those respects. I wish there was more of Ultra somewhere, I honestly do.
melissarochelle's review against another edition
3.0
A snapshot of the life of celebrity superhero Ultra with even quicker looks at the lives of her two superhero friends Aphrodite and Cowgirl. I liked the magazine articles at the end of the issues more than the overall story; however, the story does have a lot to say about the current celebrity stalker-paparazzi culture we have. It also made comments re: why female superheroes are always so sexed up with their skimpy outfits...of course, they're also scantily clad here.
I would be interested in reading more -- what happens next with Ultra. Does she leave the celebrity superhero life behind her? Does she find true love or does she really just find herself? And why did she break up with Captain Steel?
I would be interested in reading more -- what happens next with Ultra. Does she leave the celebrity superhero life behind her? Does she find true love or does she really just find herself? And why did she break up with Captain Steel?
theartolater's review against another edition
5.0
Closer to a 4.5.
Ultra is a superhero tale that might be more reminiscent of Sex and the City if Carrie and her pals had superpowers instead of whatever it is the Sex and the City ladies did.
Essentially, our three ladies, after a night on the town, decide to have their fortunes told. The fortunes come true over the course of seven days, with a lot more action and suspense than you'd think. The interesting take is that the comic, over 7-8 issues, is presented more of a tabloid-style magazine than a straightforward story, so it makes for an interesting presentation.
Overall, worth reading. I really enjoyed it for what it was.
Ultra is a superhero tale that might be more reminiscent of Sex and the City if Carrie and her pals had superpowers instead of whatever it is the Sex and the City ladies did.
Essentially, our three ladies, after a night on the town, decide to have their fortunes told. The fortunes come true over the course of seven days, with a lot more action and suspense than you'd think. The interesting take is that the comic, over 7-8 issues, is presented more of a tabloid-style magazine than a straightforward story, so it makes for an interesting presentation.
Overall, worth reading. I really enjoyed it for what it was.
pmileham's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't too crazy about this book. I'd heard it was good, but it didn't live up to any of my expectations. Maybe it will grow on me once I come back and read it more than once.
cetian's review against another edition
3.0
After some days, I still don't know what to write, really. What I end up saying comes from someone who did not grow up reading superhero comics, and usually does not read them. Actually, "Comics" is a word I only use because I'm writing in english. In my own language, "banda desenhada" is the direct translation of "bande dessinée". And I used the acronym BD to refer to comic books all my life. And the BD I read had (almost) zero superheroes. It might be strange for someone who grew up in the country of Marvel Comics, but in my personal experience comics does not translate immediately to superheroes. I was already a grown up, when a friend offered me his (portuguese translated) Marvel comic collection, before moving to another country, and I do have to say that after several years I only read a few Wolverine and most are still left unread (At the time the art felt very "in-my-face" and the stories very hysterical and boring).
That being said, the first season of Heroes I watched it as it aired. And movies like
Super
and Alter Egos confirmed what Watchmen (and even Hancock) had alerted me to: the superhero metaphor was being desconstructed, played with, used subversely. What I reacted to with suspicion, that is already brilliantly summarized in the names "superhero", "superhuman", "supermen", "superwomen"was being looked at from all angles, reinvented, mocked, revamped. The superheroines, I had already noticed, were getting some tendencies, reflecting a defeat of the crude exploitation that in the first decades of the 20th Century men did not, generally, hesitate to pursue and women (and men), generally, still did not oppose in big enough numbers or with wide enough visibility or impact. But I had not seen a work of the narrative stature, with the political implications, and wit of Watchmen - I read it after watching the film.
This work by the Luna Brothers, seems to come in the tradition of reinventing, rethinking the stereotypes and gender roles reflected in comics about heroines. It is filled with irony and empowers (if not women - that can be argued) the characters themselves. The characters are put in a set up where their sexuality and place as role models is vigorously scrutinized. The narrative makes superheroines media superstars and uses that device as a way to analyse the pressures that creates in the lives of the characters. It's a simple device and it has its limits. It uses the same logic that creates a filter to look at the post-modern life of a woman saying that: she is expected to be at the same time a super-mum and a top executive, a publicly respected wife and a talented high libido lover, someone who can make cold fast decisions and be a charitable loving member of the family and the society. It is a dual logic that looks at the tensions and views women under a linear narrative. It has its merits and its problems.
We get to look at superheroines as superstars.
My ignorance of the contributions of many artists and writers, many of them women, that have been reinventing the superheroine for the last decades is in it self, a superignorance. Supermoman, the character, has been subverted, revamped, rehabilitaded, her former self used only vaguely as inspiration for contemporary stories. And I even fail to give examples of others, like Wonder Woman and... can't even remember the names, and will confess that I have not read a single story of those classics. Many narratives and characters have been put to print, changing and challenging stereotypes and I reaffirm my early point. I did not grow up reading superhero comics. So, this did not have the same impact on me.
It did feel as if the writers were showing their respect for the characters. I wouldn't say this is girl power stuff. Because there is vulnerability and conflict and bad decisions and things that are opaque. But, if the expression makes any sense, this seems like "character power stuff". The Luna brothers created and reinforced some tiques and mannerisms that allow us to reflect on how the characters are set up, even on the exploitation of the sexuality of the characters. One of the main themes is precisely the exploitation of their sexuality. But the superheroines have agents (that advise them) and the image is something that they, the superheroines and the agents, "use". So, that use is exposed, it is arguable. As much as the use of a sexualized image of a female surfer, or another female athlete, for instance - to refer to someone, in our reality, that has is in top shape and has a public profile. Today, when we visit an instagram account of a female athlete and see how sexualized it is, it is open for debate, how the image is owned by the athlete and at the same time it is exploited. It is not as clear as when men decided for women how they should behave and what to do with their bodies. The tension was deslocated. Men do not own women anymore. There is a whole establishment, that creates rules for what is supposed to be expected, and women (men too) are in conflict with how much they can control of their private life, how much gets out of control. They know that sexualization can be part of the game (or at least the use of one's image) and sometimes choose to use it. But it can get out of control, too.
Ultra understands we live in a more complicated, interesting world. And that having equal rights guaranteed by the law doesn't immediately makes everyone happy, poor people do not get rich by decree, women do not immediately star earning more and getting more top jobs. Sexuality does not immediately become a place where power should not matter.
That being said, the first season of Heroes I watched it as it aired. And movies like
Super
and Alter Egos confirmed what Watchmen (and even Hancock) had alerted me to: the superhero metaphor was being desconstructed, played with, used subversely. What I reacted to with suspicion, that is already brilliantly summarized in the names "superhero", "superhuman", "supermen", "superwomen"was being looked at from all angles, reinvented, mocked, revamped. The superheroines, I had already noticed, were getting some tendencies, reflecting a defeat of the crude exploitation that in the first decades of the 20th Century men did not, generally, hesitate to pursue and women (and men), generally, still did not oppose in big enough numbers or with wide enough visibility or impact. But I had not seen a work of the narrative stature, with the political implications, and wit of Watchmen - I read it after watching the film.
This work by the Luna Brothers, seems to come in the tradition of reinventing, rethinking the stereotypes and gender roles reflected in comics about heroines. It is filled with irony and empowers (if not women - that can be argued) the characters themselves. The characters are put in a set up where their sexuality and place as role models is vigorously scrutinized. The narrative makes superheroines media superstars and uses that device as a way to analyse the pressures that creates in the lives of the characters. It's a simple device and it has its limits. It uses the same logic that creates a filter to look at the post-modern life of a woman saying that: she is expected to be at the same time a super-mum and a top executive, a publicly respected wife and a talented high libido lover, someone who can make cold fast decisions and be a charitable loving member of the family and the society. It is a dual logic that looks at the tensions and views women under a linear narrative. It has its merits and its problems.
We get to look at superheroines as superstars.
My ignorance of the contributions of many artists and writers, many of them women, that have been reinventing the superheroine for the last decades is in it self, a superignorance. Supermoman, the character, has been subverted, revamped, rehabilitaded, her former self used only vaguely as inspiration for contemporary stories. And I even fail to give examples of others, like Wonder Woman and... can't even remember the names, and will confess that I have not read a single story of those classics. Many narratives and characters have been put to print, changing and challenging stereotypes and I reaffirm my early point. I did not grow up reading superhero comics. So, this did not have the same impact on me.
It did feel as if the writers were showing their respect for the characters. I wouldn't say this is girl power stuff. Because there is vulnerability and conflict and bad decisions and things that are opaque. But, if the expression makes any sense, this seems like "character power stuff". The Luna brothers created and reinforced some tiques and mannerisms that allow us to reflect on how the characters are set up, even on the exploitation of the sexuality of the characters. One of the main themes is precisely the exploitation of their sexuality. But the superheroines have agents (that advise them) and the image is something that they, the superheroines and the agents, "use". So, that use is exposed, it is arguable. As much as the use of a sexualized image of a female surfer, or another female athlete, for instance - to refer to someone, in our reality, that has is in top shape and has a public profile. Today, when we visit an instagram account of a female athlete and see how sexualized it is, it is open for debate, how the image is owned by the athlete and at the same time it is exploited. It is not as clear as when men decided for women how they should behave and what to do with their bodies. The tension was deslocated. Men do not own women anymore. There is a whole establishment, that creates rules for what is supposed to be expected, and women (men too) are in conflict with how much they can control of their private life, how much gets out of control. They know that sexualization can be part of the game (or at least the use of one's image) and sometimes choose to use it. But it can get out of control, too.
Ultra understands we live in a more complicated, interesting world. And that having equal rights guaranteed by the law doesn't immediately makes everyone happy, poor people do not get rich by decree, women do not immediately star earning more and getting more top jobs. Sexuality does not immediately become a place where power should not matter.
sever_selwyn's review against another edition
2.0
The story was not super interesting. Three super heroines go to see a fortune teller. One of them is told she will find true love within seven days. Which her best friend is very happy about because her being single for a while Is apparently unacceptable. But what really ruined it for me is the main characters calling each other “slut”, “harlot” and “retarded” and even using a rape joke.
minizzip's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not the biggest graphic novel fan, but one of my popsugar prompts is to read a book of a different format than usual. I’ve gotta admit, I was pretty surprised how good this was.