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A thought-provoking tale of female empowerment disguised as a T&A comic!

Make no mistake about it; I like Adults Only comics. Since I was too young to start reading them, I’ve been reading them. When I was 15, I read my first issue of Faust by David Quinn and Tim Vigil, and when I saw the ultra-extreme carnage and gore, the utterly filthy vulgarity of the language and the XXX-Rated depravity of the sex acts, I was hooked. It was the comic-nerd’s equivalent of Playboy or Penthouse or late-night Fridays on Cinemax. Since then, I began collecting some of the comics labeled ‘Adults Only’, or the ones already bagged with a ‘Mature Readers Only’ piece of paper strategically placed over the naughty bits, or my personal favorite, ‘Absolutely Not For Children’. Comics like Raw Media, 666: The Wrath (both from Rebel Studios and/or Avatar Press), Howard Chaykin’s wonderfully perverse Black Kiss, and my favorite AO titles From Hell and Lost Girls, both brilliantly done by Alan Moore (and before you tell me that From Hell wasn’t an AO title, go and read it again…). I was enthralled at how far the medium could be pushed. Now, these titles are a pretty far cry from the stuff that is intended to just be sold in porn stores, but they do get pretty close. Now, there’s been a kind of drought of these types of comics in recent years, mostly because due to poor sales and the new-found appeal of Hentai. But Broadsword Comics sucked me in with their comic, Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose issue #45. I looked at the comic sitting there on the rack, and sure enough, it was pre-bagged, with the ‘Mature Readers Only’ insert. I decided to give it a shot.

I was shocked.

Not shocked by the amount of sex or gore or filth, but the lack of it. And it was shocking at how thoughtful of a comic it was for the most part. Creator/Artist Jim Balent took a heroine who was absolutely defiant of gravity and who had a penchant for walking around totally nude (and clean shaven, if you get my drift…) and gave her power and strength of character and an inner beauty. What he had done was a really bait-and-switch. Here was a serious tale about and empowered woman who embraced the practices of Wicca and Magicks and it was being disguised as a T&A comic. And here I am to review the latest issue, Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #51.

If you know nothing about this comic, just run with it. In issue #50, we were kind of reintroduced to the character. Tarot is a warrior woman of sorts who has been charged with bringing balance between the worlds of Man and of Magicks. She has a goblin cat named Pooka, a sexy and spunky lover named Boo Cat, who can change between woman and feline (a were-cat?), and a very cheeky ‘suit’ of armor. The adventure begins as she hears cries of help of a normal family who are being assaulted by fairies (there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write…). Tarot comes to the aid of the family and is introduced to Lord Thornwic, the Swordsman of the God (as Tarot is the Swordmaiden of the Goddess), who informs her that this family has committed crimes against the Fairie realm. Apparently the son had what he thought to be an unusual bug collection, but it turned out that they were Fairies. Thornwic sentences the family to death to ‘balance the scales’, but Tarot, who understands that the child has made a mistake, challenges him to a duel where if she loses, she takes the punishment meant for the family, but if she wins, the family goes free. This issue deals with that duel. Thornwic arrives at the scheduled time, only to inform her that the family is already dealt with. They’ve been crucified in the Fairie realm. She cries that it is not justice that was done, but murder, and she intends to duel to the death with Thornwic for this. They fight, but he is just way too fast and skilled for her. During the duel, there is a lot of action, and a lot of internal dialogue, and a lot of her clothes being cut off. Well, all of them, actually. And as she awaits his killing blow, she is saved at the last moment by who I can only assume is her male lover Jon, who also goes by the moniker of Skeleton Man.

What has really drawn me to this series and what has kept me reading it is the character of Tarot. Not because she is almost freakishly well-endowed (man, her back must hurt…) and she has a hind-end that is so sexy, you’d like to have it for lunch, but because she is unashamed of all of these things. She does not fear her sexuality. She doesn’t hide from her power, but she embraces it. So many modern comics have heroes or heroines who are always at odds with the responsibility they’ve burdened themselves with, but not Tarot. She is exactly who and what she wants to be. The comic is also a pretty fascinating treatise on the world of Wicca and how it does teach you to embrace your beauty and power, and that they’re not things to be afraid of. These are important lessons for all of us, even if it does sound a little too preachy or New Age-y at times. As for the issue, it’s written in a style that is evocative of the soliloquies of Stan Lee, which can get a little old sometimes, but Balent’s art is really dynamic, even if it tends to defy anatomic capabilities. I also really like Holly Golightly’s colors in this book. I know that this is more of a review of the title rather than the issue, and I don’t really mean for it to be that way, but this is one of those comics that just doesn’t get a lot of credit. And it is controversial in the sense of Balent using the T&A aspects of the comic to sell us this character who lives in defiance of a more Puritanical approach to life, therefore giving her license to walk around naked. I don’t think it does that, but I can see how others might. Regardless, Tarot is a good comic and this issue is a pretty cool issue.

Pick one up and give it a try. If you don’t like it, you can give it to your pervert friend. You know the one I mean.

Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #51
“So Mote It Be: Part Two”
Writer/Artist: Jim Balent
Colorist/Letterer: Holly Golightly

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