Mean Girls Club : La Vague Rose

Mean Girls Club

by Ryan Heshka

Le Mean Girls Club, composé de six filles badass, sème le chaos dans la ville depuis des années. Leur carburant : la peur, l’ivresse, la défonce, les armes à feu et la sororité à la vie à la mort. Le maire Hamilton "Ham" Hocks, véreux et paternaliste, a juré de faire disparaître à jamais ce club de bimbos qui renverse l’ordre établi… Sa police inefficace face à ces redoutables pin-up, Hocks fait du chantage à la jeune Roxy, pour qu’elle infiltre le Mean Girls Club et l’aide à le faire tomber. Mais une fois acceptée par ce cercle de hors-la-loi, elle va se retrouver déchirée entre la vie de déglingue avec ces dures à queen, et la pression que le maire exerce sur elle pour mener à bien sa triste mission…

​Dans un style « pulp » très appuyé, seulement en nuances de noir et rose, le canadien Ryan Heshka retourne l’image stéréotypée de la femme des années 50, et arme ses héroïnes impertinentes et provocantes, pour le plaisir de toutes.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Bande Dessinée, Crime, Feminism

96 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 2018

Reviews

[chan ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

feminist FUN

bawdy, raunchy, violent fun. pin up girls kicking ass and fighting the patriarchy. what more could you ask for?

it didn't explore topics in any sort of depth or say anything new, but it was fun and the art was absolutely gorgeous. i really liked.

[Rin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm into murderous girls kickin' ass and takin' names. #soundwavenewwavecrimewave is my new life motto.

[Rod Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the second over-the-top feminist revenge-fantasy satire influenced by the movies of the 1950s that I've read in the last few weeks. (See also: XTC69.) But since this one is by a man, the powerful women characters all sport sexy clothes and high heels. Go figure.

The story has an underground comix vibe that will appeal to some, I'm sure, but it just leaves me feeling like I'm reading nonsense that doesn't follow any sort of rules.

For Trump haters, there is a pretty obvious stand-in who gets his comeuppance in the end.

[Bob Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bunch of femmes fatales, Switchblade Sisters or plain female juvenile delinquents drinking, smoking, driving fast cars, spouting hard boiled quips and causing mayhem around them. Lovely stuff.

I show this fun pulp pop surrealist comic together with Ryan Heshka's gorgeous artbook Fatales :
https://youtu.be/LFz5v8LqI7k

[Marlalalala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolument incroyable et très impressionnée par le contenu, faudra que je fasse une review un de ces jours pcq ça m'a vraiment VRAIMENT plu
Cadeau de @histoiredevivre donc forcément banger

[magical_bookcorner2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A graphic novel about a group of ladies who cause havoc around the town. Their tough and mean, they swear, smoke and drink. The cops are after them and try to stop them causing havoc. The characters were good and it had a good storyline. Filled with great black, grey and pink illustrations.
A fun book
I've just recently got into graphic novels and I have to say that this is the best one that I have read so far.
WARNING: This book contains swear words and sexual references

[Tenebrous Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there isn’t “revisionist B-movie history,” there ought to be. Any fan of girl gang stories knows to brace themselves for the inevitable moralizing coda. At best it’s “yadda yadda error of my ways;” at worst it’s “untimely death.” Bless Ryan Heshka for imagining a different bad girl universe and illustrating it in the most delightful way imaginable.

[Scott Robins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great homage to bad girl b-movies of the '50s and '60s with the dial turned way up. Packed full of crass sexual innuendos, vulgarity, violence and general grotesque and deplorable human behavior - I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Looking forward to more adventures.

[Cayla Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic artwork! Please give us more tales from the Mean Girls Club!

[Tamara Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Mean girls club: pink dawn” is a female empowering graphic novel set in the 1950’s.

The graphic novel begins with policemen executing an ambush on the six members of the Mean Girls Club. After the women beat the policemen, they decide to find the person responsible for the ambush.

The Mean Girls Club has a reputation a group of being tough, hard fighting, hard drinking, take charge women whose sole job in to fight the patriarchy in all its forms. The Mean Girls Club consists of six members including a former orphan, a former child movie star, a former boyfriend of a drug junkie, a former gang queen, and a woman who was framed for a murder.

Soon the mayor, the chief of police, and two local religious leaders join forces to take down the Mean Girls Club in order to keep them from inspiring young girls to revolt again being obedient and submissive wives.

Within the graphic novel is a side story involving a female mechanic named Roxy. Roxy lives with her sickly grandfather and needs to be paid to buy the pills he so desperately needs. In order to get her grandfather his pills, Roxy agrees to follow a plan by the mayor to infiltrate the Mean Girls Club and destroy the group from the inside.

After Roxy is double crossed, she decides to retaliate against those who wronged her. Meanwhile, the reader discovers why the mayor is so fixated on taking down the Mean Girls Club and specifically the leader of the group Pinky.

Roxy runs away and is to discover the origins of the Mean Girls Club and finally fully embraces the rules of the Mean Girls Club in supporting the sisterhood in their war against evil men.

I love that the women are drawn to be attractive, with a dark sense of humor, and deadly. FYI: this graphic novel might not be suitable for everyone due violent scenes that are drawn, profane language and offensive name calling. Overall, this graphic novel did a great job of showing how powerful women can be when they choose to band together and I especially loved the epilogue which shows the Mean Girls Club becoming a global movement.

[Laurelas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Une BD remplie de femmes fatales dans les 50's qui détruisent tout sur leur passage, boivent, fument à outrance et cassent la gueule aux hommes, ça a tout pour (me) plaire... sauf que bon, j'ai trouvé que ça n'avait pas beaucoup de substance au fond, avec une intrigue quasi inexistante, des personnages qui n'ont pas beaucoup de relief et sont très caricaturaux.

C'est plutôt plaisant graphiquement, mais ça n'est pas un incontournable à mon sens... À lire à la bibliothèque si la votre l'a acheté !

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the aesthetic of this graphic novel was a 5/5, but the plot fell short. The story was fairly predictable and I think the concept would have allowed for more complex and likeable characters (there were so few moments where the main girl group actually got along with eachother). Also, I felt like there was a lot of a value placed on crude language and shocking behavior which didn't necessarily progress the plot or add to the characters.

Otherwise, the art in this novel was extremely well done/ the general concept is unique and make it worth a quick read.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty funny. A very vampy, rockabilly style girl gang who takes on the corrupt church and state with their cussing and violence. It's funny and has some feminist charms, but it also irreverent and playing with 50s B-movie style.

[Luis RT Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

LO AMÉ completito, la historia, las ilustraciones increíbles, la edición, el blanco/negro/rosa, los trazos, la perrukeza de las mean girls empoderadas después de haber sido tan ultrajadas y violentadas ¡Increíblemente maravilloso! Yo solo quiero ser una de ellas...

[Caitlin Lopez Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BEST!

[gabeitch thriving · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let women have fun!

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so awesome! Very “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” by way of John Waters through a feminist lens. The illustration and color palette was perfection. This was a fun, campy romp and I loved it!

[Seymour Glass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, if that wasn’t the best graphic novel I’ve ever read! So much fucking fun, I wish I was in a Mean Girls Club 💖🖤

[Axelle book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les dessins sont incroyables, l’univers graphique est prenant, l histoire sert plus le dessin que le dessin l histoire.

[Alasondro Alegré · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★½

[Ashley (FridayCab) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn’t as interesting or empowering as people made it out to be.

Story:
I wish Heshka had given readers background on the main villain earlier in the story, told us how things turned out for the girls in the cult, and been more consistent about the magic-vs-realism (had a slightly more believable explanation for Pinky’s transformation and recalled the omen). The ending, unlike most of the book, was optimistic.

Art:
The art style was interesting. The color scheme was so cool. It was bold and “feminine” in a story about women reclaiming power. I liked how characters had some facial differences we don’t usually see on female heroes; however, they still had the same body type. It felt like the comic pushed the idea that people with positive/innocent intentions should be more realistic-ish and traditionally beautiful/adorable, while villains/characters whose opinions should be discarded were physical caricatures. The main characters also usually wore similar, restrictive clothing. Who wears stilettos to fix a clubhouse, and why are they the same ones? Did they rob a shoe delivery truck together?

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, but I was pretty disappointed in the dialogue. It went really hard on the "vulva-related words are insults" theme and there was more of a sense of camaraderie among the villains than the protagonists. The ways sex was used also felt unrealistic, *especially* the weird rape joke. I went in thinking it was a satire of fifties girl-gang stories, but it was true to origin in too many ways.

[Amanda Lagerfeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mean Girls Club is a group of badass pinup girls who take no bullshit and never look less than flawless.
This is a fun little book but nothing that would stick out in the sea of more worthy stories. The art is fantastic and I loved the black/white/pink motif; but the story left a little to be desired. It was predicable and not overly original. While it isn't revolutionary it is a fun read and the art alone is worth giving it a look.

Story 2.5/5
Art 4/5

[Cloé · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’était très cool, les membres du Mean Girls Club sont infectes mais très attachantes. C’est très rare pour une BD écrite par un homme que les femmes ne soient pas juste un objet de fantasme donc ça fait plaisir. J’ai pas mis 4 étoiles car beaucoup d’aspects auraient pu être étayés et c’est bien dommage que ce ne soit pas le cas.

[José Pascual · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una de las grandes virtudes de El club de las chicas malas es que la obra puede abrazarse tanto tratándola de producto de pura diversión y exceso, como desde su mensaje subversivo que insta a pasar a la acción. En ambas vertientes Ryan Heshka muestra su brío y su dominio del ritmo, consistente en no aflojar el pedal en ningún momento. De fondo, y a veces de frente, el cómic atiza a estamentos como el religioso y el político, sin mostrar medias tintas a la hora de criticar las "democracias autoritarias" pero también la pasividad de la población, incapaz de sublevarse por sí misma.

El dibujo de Heshka es realmente lo que marca el tono desenfadado y febril del cómic, desde su trazo tan de pulp de los años 50, su diseño retro de personajes y su concepción cartoon del ritmo y la estructura, ofreciendo una disposición de viñetas en formato diagonal que no sirve más que para añadir desenfreno y vértigo a la lectura. Y luego está el color, claro. El blanco y negro se ve resquebrajado por la irrupción de un color rosa afilado, nervioso y agresivo, que se convierte en un elemento de gran protagonismo tanto en la acción como de manera conceptual.

Reseña completa en "Dentro del Monolito": https://dentrodelmonolito.blogspot.co...

[Señora · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿En realidad 3,5?

Tanto el concepto como las ilustraciones son las que hacen que le suba la nota porque digamos que sustentan todo lo demás.

En realidad, provoca una fascinación horrorosa en la que, si no estás al 100% en el asunto, acabas con la sensación de no saber si te ha gustado o no. Igualmente, es un cómic divertido, directo, muy dinámico y satisfactorio. Los enemigos son odiosos, pero las protagonistas tampoco son perfectas, esta es una de las cuestiones que no sé si catalogarlas en un punto positivo o negativo.

Desde una perspectiva feminista, entiendo a dónde quiere llegar pero hay varias cuestiones que me chirrían un poco, sin querer caer en la anacronía (pensando en que está ambientado en los años cincuenta).
Igualmente, hay ciertos elementos que me sobran porque no van con la trama, como la necesidad de drogarse (¿para parecer más malas?) o los ataques que se hacen entre ellas. Plus: esto ya es un gusto personal, pero hay como demasiados insultos demasiado innecesarios y gratuitos.

Pese a todo lo que he dicho anteriormente, que sólo resaltan los puntos negativos, he disfrutado bastante del cómic, de su historia y de sus ilustraciones haciendo que todo lo demás se quede en una leve molestia.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ryan Heshka's art kicks a lot of ass, just wish the story was better. Mean Girls Club plays as homage (or satire, wasn't fully clear to me) to femme fatale/bad girl action B-movies from decades past. The humor doesn't fully land and the dialogue could use some punchiness to make the action flow better. But the artwork is clean and stylish throughout. Heshka employs slanted panels to great use - it gives the comic an off-kilter feel that works pretty well stylistically. The duotone colors with bright drops of pink really make the artwork pop too. I'd be interested in more of Heshka's work, so long as the storytelling improves a bit more.

[Jesquick · Rating 3 out of 5]

"El club de las chicas malas presenta un grupo de mujeres decididas a no ser oprimidas, maltratadas o seguir las reglas impuestas por la sociedad, y están dispuestas a defender su club con balas, navajas y garrotes. Es una historia interesante que me gustó, ya que muestra un poderoso mensaje feminista. Aunque no suelo ser fan de este tipo de historias, disfruté bastante la trama, ya que es refrescante ver a las mujeres en roles diferentes al de víctimas o princesas en apuros.

Además, me encanta el estilo de dibujo antiguo en blanco y negro, y mucho rosa, creo que le da un toque genial a la historia."

[Tracy]

Love love love the artwork. The story is perfect as what it is: a homage / reimagining of femme fatales and 1950s B-movies and comic book tropes. It's wildly over the top -- intentionally -- and composed of a mashup of caricatures and stereotypes, but still entertaining. I think paring back the number of women in the Mean Girls Club could have given them each a little more in the way of distinct personalities and relationships -- maybe four instead of six? -- because each character got little pagetime.

[Céleste Besse · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'était génial ! Trop bizarre que ce soit écrit par un homme. La rage, la sororité, la lutte féministe sont magnifiquement bien démontrés. Le dessin est incroyable (pin-up et caricatures vintages meet roman graphique), l'écriture est franche et familière. Le rose devient un personnage à part entière. Je pense que cette bd devrait être lue par le plus grand nombre, elle fait du bien !
Il est temps de monter nos mean girls clubs à nous.