There is one thing that no one will be able to take from Pregnant Bitches of War and that is the fact that it is one of the boldest, craziest comics to ever exist. This issue actually tones down the… what would you call forcing a mother to eat her own newborn? Zany? Well it tones down the zaniness for sure! In fact this issue barely reminds you of the events of the last issue which was a bit jarring at first. Instead we open with the remaining group of pregnant women that crash landed their dildo plane on an island that Nicolas Telsa specifically told them not to land on. Birdie wakes up in her underwear wearing a football helmet (minus the face mask) and shoulder pads. Their group that once was six has been reduced to three-ish.
Leslie finds herself tied to a heart-shaped bed. An Orangutan comes into the room and applies lipstick and a mole to Leslie and leaves her tied to the bed. Later we actually find out what Leslie’s deal is; a pre-op that faked a pregnancy for money. Oh Leslie… we basically knew this from the beginning, but at least the story is acknowledging it.
People die, new characters are revealed and of course we check in with the Exalted Father and Jin.
This series has settled down into a consistent story. Yes there is “zaniness” to be had still, but I’m referring more to the story. The unfortunate problem is that I really don’t know what the women are trying to do. They’re running from the Exalted Father and Telsa manages to screw them over whenever possible, but what goal are they hoping to accomplish? At times it feels as if the story is distracted by its own strangeness and forgets that the plot needs to progress or at the very least hint at where it’s heading. The obvious answer is of course that it’s heading towards them undoing the premature death of Hitler and reverting the world back to the way it was before everything was wrecked by time travel; and while that’s the obvious choice the story never tells us this, rather it’s logic that prevails.
The artwork for the series is also very consistent and that’s important. With as crazy as this world is, it’s important to see one vision of the world and that comes to us via DJ Parnell’s pencils. It also keeps the characters looking consistent which again something that the visual storytelling needs considering how many different outfits the group has been forced to wear. Instead you can spot Birdie instantly or remember Jin when you see her on the page for the first time bleeding and wearing an evening gown. Overall the artwork does a great job of presenting the story and delivering the funny when the time calls for it.
Some might say that you need to be bold to read this comic or that if you’re easily offended that you shouldn’t read it. I say screw that. You’re always going to be easily offended if you don’t venture out of your bubble and this is as far out of the comfort zone as you can get. If you like books from Avatar Press, but you want to laugh, then here you go… Pregnant Bitches of War from Fried Comics.
Score: 3/5
Writers: Clay Adams & Alexandre O. Philippe Artist: DJ Parnell Publisher: Fried Comics Price: $0.99 Release Date: 3/12/14 Website