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A review by helpfulsnowman
The Planetary Omnibus by Warren Ellis
4.0
In this book, I found a great example of something difficult to capture.
So many books, comics especially, rely on creating a bizarre, almost trippy experience for the reader. Like Swamp Thing or Sandman, they take readers on a trip, almost trying to re-create in readers the sense of confusion and disorientation that the characters would feel.
I've always disliked that feeling. Or rather, I think it can get lazy here and there. If someone drugs Batman and he starts hallucinating, well, I just don't care anymore.
What Planetary does beautifully, it has science that's confusing as hell, and I suspect that even if I took a lot of time to plot it all out and make sense of it, a lot of it would still be complete nonsense anyway.
HOWEVER, the book has a heart to it. It's revealed slowly, not even coming in to play until much later. But as you progress just beyond half way you start seeing that there's a purpose to the weirdness. More importantly, you don't need to understand the weird science-y stuff to understand the emotional core of the book.
Which brings me to something else entirely.
Is a graphic novel review the right place to talk about a tragic shooting, the latest in a series of never-ending acts of violence we seem to be stuck with?
For me is it the right place? Yeah.
Here's the comparison I just want to make.
After every tragedy we spend a lot of time discussing why it happened. This time, the big theory has to do with some sort of misogyny machine that's operating in the background of human society all the time (please note that I'm not invalidating that as it's own issue, but..well, just humor me and keep going). In the past we've also discussed any number of other possibilities too. Violent video games. Music with dark lyrics. Mental illness is always a factor.
In Planetary, one of the goals was to get rid of these bastards known as The Four. The Planetary organization could have gone about this by trying to figure out their every motive, quirk, and origin. And certainly some of that happened, but more importantly, the goal was to remove The Four from their positions of power. If you can figure out where this asshole is going to show up next, you can launch him into space forever without knowing his personal philosophy. Done.
So here's what I'm saying: Does a big bad goal always require knowing the origin of the problem?
We can spend the rest of our (possibly foreshortened by violence) lives trying to figure out why these shootings happen. Why this guy did this, why he did that. We can try to suss out motives, find that common thread, and then prevent this in the future.
Again, I do think that these issues are important. I'm not invalidating the problems of misogyny or mental illness. They are important issues, even if nobody is ever shot again.
However, what I'm saying is that in this case, talking about the motives seems to distract us from the problem at hand.
The problem at hand is that nobody can keep us safe. Seriously. And I don't want to sound like a total conspiracy nut, but wouldn't it be nice, say as a lawmaker who is pro-gun, if the public turned to a discussion of feminism and misogyny as opposed to gun control? Because that's a conversation where there are no clear answers.
I mean, yes, the clear answer is Misogyny Bad. Duh. But what I mean is, the discussion gets insane. What IS misogyny? Is a misogynist someone who FEELS a certain way, or ACTS a certain way? Can we change how people FEEL? Look at all these examples of people treating each other like shit.
In one particularly appalling example from the New Statesman, an otherwise decent article is marred by this line:
This is not the first time that women and unlucky male bystanders have been massacred by men claiming sexual frustration as justification for their violence.
So you weren't a real victim. You were just an unlucky male bystander. Thanks. I'm sure a man's loved ones would appreciate that. It will probably be a big comfort to them, knowing that the death of someone they cared for was just a side effect.
And then, holy shit, we're not even really talking about a shooting anymore. We swirl off into something else, and it's good that we're having more discussion, but goddamn it, we're not solving these shootings. We're not. Have they decreased in scope? Frequency? Have we learned anything of importance from these shootings?
If there's something I'd like us to take from this one, a little something I learned from Planetary, it's this: We don't need to know the origin of the motive in order to stop these things from happening. Just as the Planetary folks didn't need to know about the personal philosophies of their enemies to try and stop them, we don't need to know the motive to stop this from happening. Or hell, at least slow it down. Make an effort.
Why hasn't a school said, "We only allow students in our school who have no access to guns"? That means no guns in the home. Hey, it's a constitutional right. And it's also a constitutional right to attend a different school.
If the NRA truly believes that guns don't kill people, people kill people, then why don't they put some of their considerable funding into setting up free mental health for youth? Show us. Show us that the world is still safe when it's full of guns but our emotional needs are met.
How is it that I was given access to guns at age 14 and this was perfectly legal? You aren't seen as being responsible enough to see Rated R movies, drive a car, even play the Powerball. Yet, here, have a gun. I wasn't responsible enough to handle my own boy parts. And those were FAR from capable of doing much harm, believe me.
Fuck, if people are proud to be card-carrying NRA members, why can't I get some kind of card that proves I DON'T own a gun? And then, hey, a business owner could choose to give me 10% off. I bet a movie theater in Aurora would probably be down with upgrading my popcorn from small-giant to medium-giant for free if I could show my non-gun card.
What I want to get across here, I'm ready to try some shit to solve this problem. What no longer interests me is the shooter's mindset. I am interested in the issues that face young people and how those issues are expressed through violence and treating people the wrong way. But for me, the priority is stopping this shit. I don't think that I, as the man I am, can solve the big problems. I can't solve misogyny. I can't solve the fact that bad parenting is a big, big deal. I can't overhaul the mental health industry of the United States. What I can do is my part. I can say that I'm willing to live in a town that doesn't have guns. Period. I'd be willing to submit to a background check and not purchase or own firearms if it meant my child was in a school where all the other parents of students had done the same. I'm willing to give up what some people interpret as my right in order to possibly, just for even a fraction of a silver of a chance, I'd give up a concrete right just for the very small hypothetical, mathematical improbability that it MIGHT save a stranger's life. In this case, when there's a demonstrable causation, I'm willing to give up a right that I have exercised in the past if it means the POSSIBILITY of making a small difference.
That's all.
Oh, and I guess definitely read Planetary.
So many books, comics especially, rely on creating a bizarre, almost trippy experience for the reader. Like Swamp Thing or Sandman, they take readers on a trip, almost trying to re-create in readers the sense of confusion and disorientation that the characters would feel.
I've always disliked that feeling. Or rather, I think it can get lazy here and there. If someone drugs Batman and he starts hallucinating, well, I just don't care anymore.
What Planetary does beautifully, it has science that's confusing as hell, and I suspect that even if I took a lot of time to plot it all out and make sense of it, a lot of it would still be complete nonsense anyway.
HOWEVER, the book has a heart to it. It's revealed slowly, not even coming in to play until much later. But as you progress just beyond half way you start seeing that there's a purpose to the weirdness. More importantly, you don't need to understand the weird science-y stuff to understand the emotional core of the book.
Which brings me to something else entirely.
Is a graphic novel review the right place to talk about a tragic shooting, the latest in a series of never-ending acts of violence we seem to be stuck with?
For me is it the right place? Yeah.
Here's the comparison I just want to make.
After every tragedy we spend a lot of time discussing why it happened. This time, the big theory has to do with some sort of misogyny machine that's operating in the background of human society all the time (please note that I'm not invalidating that as it's own issue, but..well, just humor me and keep going). In the past we've also discussed any number of other possibilities too. Violent video games. Music with dark lyrics. Mental illness is always a factor.
In Planetary, one of the goals was to get rid of these bastards known as The Four. The Planetary organization could have gone about this by trying to figure out their every motive, quirk, and origin. And certainly some of that happened, but more importantly, the goal was to remove The Four from their positions of power. If you can figure out where this asshole is going to show up next, you can launch him into space forever without knowing his personal philosophy. Done.
So here's what I'm saying: Does a big bad goal always require knowing the origin of the problem?
We can spend the rest of our (possibly foreshortened by violence) lives trying to figure out why these shootings happen. Why this guy did this, why he did that. We can try to suss out motives, find that common thread, and then prevent this in the future.
Again, I do think that these issues are important. I'm not invalidating the problems of misogyny or mental illness. They are important issues, even if nobody is ever shot again.
However, what I'm saying is that in this case, talking about the motives seems to distract us from the problem at hand.
The problem at hand is that nobody can keep us safe. Seriously. And I don't want to sound like a total conspiracy nut, but wouldn't it be nice, say as a lawmaker who is pro-gun, if the public turned to a discussion of feminism and misogyny as opposed to gun control? Because that's a conversation where there are no clear answers.
I mean, yes, the clear answer is Misogyny Bad. Duh. But what I mean is, the discussion gets insane. What IS misogyny? Is a misogynist someone who FEELS a certain way, or ACTS a certain way? Can we change how people FEEL? Look at all these examples of people treating each other like shit.
In one particularly appalling example from the New Statesman, an otherwise decent article is marred by this line:
This is not the first time that women and unlucky male bystanders have been massacred by men claiming sexual frustration as justification for their violence.
So you weren't a real victim. You were just an unlucky male bystander. Thanks. I'm sure a man's loved ones would appreciate that. It will probably be a big comfort to them, knowing that the death of someone they cared for was just a side effect.
And then, holy shit, we're not even really talking about a shooting anymore. We swirl off into something else, and it's good that we're having more discussion, but goddamn it, we're not solving these shootings. We're not. Have they decreased in scope? Frequency? Have we learned anything of importance from these shootings?
If there's something I'd like us to take from this one, a little something I learned from Planetary, it's this: We don't need to know the origin of the motive in order to stop these things from happening. Just as the Planetary folks didn't need to know about the personal philosophies of their enemies to try and stop them, we don't need to know the motive to stop this from happening. Or hell, at least slow it down. Make an effort.
Why hasn't a school said, "We only allow students in our school who have no access to guns"? That means no guns in the home. Hey, it's a constitutional right. And it's also a constitutional right to attend a different school.
If the NRA truly believes that guns don't kill people, people kill people, then why don't they put some of their considerable funding into setting up free mental health for youth? Show us. Show us that the world is still safe when it's full of guns but our emotional needs are met.
How is it that I was given access to guns at age 14 and this was perfectly legal? You aren't seen as being responsible enough to see Rated R movies, drive a car, even play the Powerball. Yet, here, have a gun. I wasn't responsible enough to handle my own boy parts. And those were FAR from capable of doing much harm, believe me.
Fuck, if people are proud to be card-carrying NRA members, why can't I get some kind of card that proves I DON'T own a gun? And then, hey, a business owner could choose to give me 10% off. I bet a movie theater in Aurora would probably be down with upgrading my popcorn from small-giant to medium-giant for free if I could show my non-gun card.
What I want to get across here, I'm ready to try some shit to solve this problem. What no longer interests me is the shooter's mindset. I am interested in the issues that face young people and how those issues are expressed through violence and treating people the wrong way. But for me, the priority is stopping this shit. I don't think that I, as the man I am, can solve the big problems. I can't solve misogyny. I can't solve the fact that bad parenting is a big, big deal. I can't overhaul the mental health industry of the United States. What I can do is my part. I can say that I'm willing to live in a town that doesn't have guns. Period. I'd be willing to submit to a background check and not purchase or own firearms if it meant my child was in a school where all the other parents of students had done the same. I'm willing to give up what some people interpret as my right in order to possibly, just for even a fraction of a silver of a chance, I'd give up a concrete right just for the very small hypothetical, mathematical improbability that it MIGHT save a stranger's life. In this case, when there's a demonstrable causation, I'm willing to give up a right that I have exercised in the past if it means the POSSIBILITY of making a small difference.
That's all.
Oh, and I guess definitely read Planetary.