Bitch Planet delves into multiple aspects of modern day society and places a dystopian setting over top of satirical twists of current societal issues.  Specifically, Bitch Planet takes new wave feminism and makes the issues much more obviously shown in this comic. The way it is done is obviously done as a joke, while still representing the real problems, creating more meaning behind the work.  The author uses different colors, framing and other visual techniques to portray this point.

One of the first things that stands out in the comic, is the large posters that are standing in the city on the first page.  The billboards stand out because the author puts them in bright neon colors which makes it different from the dull colors of the crowd and backdrop.  However, they are still in the background which gives them a hint of subtlety.  The billboards themselves advertise the “perfect woman”, in an ironic manner.  The author adds humor with lines like “Eat Less, Poop More”, and “Less of You to Love”.  All the while being right next to “You’re Hungry”.  Beauty is definitely a quality that society places on a pedestal and these billboards represent those ideals.  The irony makes these quotes humorous, while still holding the deeper meaning that these are real issues.  A real-world example would be a billboard for a McDonald’s directly next to a billboard for a gym.  As a reader, we may see this imagery as funny, but its parallel to what we see in everyday life.

The color pink is used across all of the issues of Bitch Planet, primarily for showing the AI on the prison colony.  In the colony, the AI are meant to portray the ideal woman.  The color pink is often associated with femininity and feminine qualities.  The AI are shown to be superior to the women and that in turn makes all of these “non-compliant” women look inferior.  Which, in this society, that is what they have been deemed.  The author does this by framing interactions with the AI so that the AI is looking down at all the women.  The AI are also taller and brighter than other characters.  

On the other hand, when in a scene with men, all the colors are bland.  The author uses dull tones of brown and gray to show the interaction between the two men.  Blandness is one of the many ways to represent masculinity in a visual text.  Masculinity often looks down upon emotional expression and in this cut and dry setting where there is a very large wall between femininity and masculinity, it is obvious to see what is what.

Another color that is effectively used by the author is green.  One of the only times we see the color green is when it is showing the two men who are controlling the prison colony.  Green is often used to represent balance and progress.  The two men are above everyone else in the comic.  They never interact directly with anyone, but they keep the plot moving forward, and they make sure that nobody escapes their watch.  In one major plot point, they execute the murder of a prisoner, and frame the main character.  This is all to maintain “balance” and to not cause discrepancies in the society in this comic.  These men constantly handle situations from the background and move everything forward, progressing the story.  The men are always being shown in a green light in every frame that they are in.

In the next issue of Bitch Planet we see one of the controllers of the society, called Fathers.  The father is giving a speech to a large group of people and is shown along with the colors orange and yellow.  These are appropriate for this scene because yellow is often associated with optimism, and a positive future which is what the speech is about.  The interesting color, however, is orange.  Orange is associated with determination and success which embodies the ideals of men in this setting, but it is also a gentler form of the color red.  Red is similar in that it invokes feelings of strong will and ambition, however it often can represent aggressiveness and ruthlessness.  The father in this scene is later shown to be much more manipulative that he is shown in the public eye.  The author used this toned down orange color to give a false impression, where in reality the father is very manipulative and almost evil.  Immediately after the scene, the father receives red wine from a man from a previous scene.  Again, this color stands out because the men are shown with bland colors.  The red wine can be interpreted to confirm malicious intent, because the man from the previous scene was the one who ordered the death of one of the inmates in the prison colony.

Stepping away from colors, we can see that the author is very creative in how she frames scenes in the comic.  The main character after being framed for murder is forced to sit in an enclosed chamber called the black box.  The author does a great job in portraying the fear of being trapped in this box.  While the AI repeatedly asks questions that  the main character can’t answer, the speech bubbles themselves surround the character, making her look even more trapped.

The author uses the background very well to show her points as shown with the propaganda on the first page of the comic.  In the scene where the main character is offered an escape by participating in a spectator sport.  The conversation goes on while showing two squirrels fighting over food while the two women watch them.  This directly represents the women fighting in the sport and how futile their efforts will be.  However, it also shows that it is unwise for the main character to refuse the offer.  The squirrels fight so as not to starve.  If the squirrel didn’t fight to defend his food, he would starve.  If the main character didn’t fight in this tournament, she would never have any chance to escape the prison colony.

The author does a great job throughout the comic to show that we face issues today in our actual society and that we need to deal with them.  Even though this comic is very exaggerated, it represents how women often feel imprisoned or trapped because they don’t conform, or comply.  The news and propaganda and standards, mock what we idealize in real life, and advocate for changing how we see women.  The art style and many visual techniques differ from what is normal, which is a great parallel for the message that the author is trying to tell.  Don’t comply to what society wants you to.