Boss Chicks Book Reviews: Misty Knight and Miranda Mercury

This past summer, I introduced Volume II of the Boss Chicks series.  Volume II was about sistah sheroes Misty Knight, Lady Spellbinder, Miranda Mercury, Adept, Zealot, Nubia, Cipher & Michonne.  I purchased the comics featuring Misty Knight (Daughters of the Dragon) and Miranda Mercury (The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury) from Amazon and recently finished reading them.  Let me tell you now: stop what you’re doing and go get these books.  They’re awesome.  WARNING: Spoilers.

Pictured: Boss Chick kicking major ass.

The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury (Vol. I) opens with introductions to the members of the Mercury family, each given the title of “Science Hero.”  Being a science nerd, this alone made me squee.  We’re introduced to young Miranda, Junior Science Hero, and she proves her worthiness by saving the Glass Planet from Brother Synn.  Shortly thereafter, she is elevated to “Science Hero.”  Again, squeeeeee!  I love science.

Then the book fast forwards to Miranda as a young woman doing all kinds of amazing asskickery things in the name of justice with her loyal and adoring sidekick, Jack Warning.  Jack’s a badass genius in his own right and the relationship he has with Miranda is based on mutual respect.  Me being the woman I am, I read a little more into Jack’s feelings for Miranda once it becomes known that she is dying and he will literally do anything to save her.  Friends, yes, definitely, but there’s more than that on his part, imho.

The book, written by Brandon Thomas and illustrated by Lee Ferguson, is a marvel of aesthetics; the artwork is fantastic, the colors vivid, the design elegant, and the characters memorable.  The last episode, #124, “The Final Lesson,” is a flashback in which we find out how and why Miranda was poisoned.  The villain is the awesomely-drawn aubergine-skinned creepazoid Cyrus Vega who is obsessed with Miranda.  He wants her “for her beautiful mind,” he says.  But then he turns right around and says that he has “loved her since he first heard of her, and that no other woman is worth him.”

This pic doesn't do eggplant Cyrus justice.

What that shit sound like to you?  Perv central.  But I like it, oh I do like it.  Mr. Thomas, I’m gonna need you and Mr. Ferguson to get Vol. II out quick, fast, and in a hurry because I must know more about the relationship between Cyrus and Miranda.  Otherwise, I shall be forced to write fanfiction to satisfy my warped sensibilities.  You’ve been warned.

"Come get some, beetches!"

Daughters of the Dragon: Samurai Bullets is about the bounty-hunting adventures of superlative beautiful BAMF Misty Knight and her equally lovely BAMF bf Colleen Wing.  The comic opens with Misty and Colleen taking down the “Rhino,” a villain who is, well…a rhino.  Actually, he’s a man in a rhino costume, but you get the idea.  But then villains start to die off and at the center of the conspiracy is the gorgeous Ricadonna, a complete and total bad-ass bitch on wheels who makes it a point to look good no matter what she’s doing.  Colleen and Misty go head to head with Ricadonna over the course of the novel and that shit gets fundamental, as things tend to when women have serious beef with each other.

Ricadonna.  Publisher by day; supervillainess by night.
Also she has killer shoes.

DotD, written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and illustrated by Khari Evans, is chock-full of memorable characters, including the indestructible pimptastic geek Otis, Misty and Colleen’s new assistant. The book has a lot of witty dialogue and I laughed out loud many times.  Colleen and Misty have a wonderful rapport and they’re more like sisters than bffs.  The book is more Misty-centered; we get her backstory and how she ended up with her bionic arm, and we even get a little nooky between her and her obvious jump-off, aka Iron Fist.  If there’s a second volume, I’d love to get some more of Colleen’s backstory.  What we got was just a tease.

The illustrations are great; the women in the book made me want to go and work out.  There are so many villains that they’re hard to keep straight, but they’re only there to show how awesome Misty and Colleen are.  What I really like the most about DotD is that it’s all about the women.  I haven’t read a comic book in a damn long time, and I’ve never read one that was so female-centered.  I hope there’s a Volume II available, because I’m definitely needing to read more about the Daughters of the Dragon.

Again, I highly recommend Daughters of the Dragon and The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury.  Read them.  You won’t be disappointed.