
Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick tells the story of a woman named Penelope who is fighting a world full of people who judge her. Two significant visual motifs found in panels throughout the comic are facial expressions and Penelope’s dialogue. In four different panels, she has facial expressions that show anger, sadness, and in one panel it seems like Penelope is taunting someone.  These facial expressions can help the reader visualize what emotions and what attitude Penelope has toward her surroundings, and possibly attribute the expressions to the possible outcome of the story. 

In the first panel on page 176, Penelope’s facial expressions show frustration. She looks as if she is being harassed. Penelope’s clothing indicates she is a prisoner since she is wearing an orange jumpsuit, and there are two men that look like guards behind her separated by a glass. To the reader, this would imply the men are somewhat scared of her. Even though the guards are protected by the glass, they still hold clubs. Penelope looks somewhat scary in the first panel. Her hair is half shaven, and her fists are clenched. This panel uses two types of shots. In the main part, the artist chose to use a wide shot so the reader can look at Penelope and her background. There is an extreme close up of Penelope’s eye at the bottom of the frame. Compared to her expressions in the main part of the panel, she frowns harder in the extreme close up shot as if she has become more angered, which leads us to wonder what changed her attitude from the first frame. The dialogue in this panel is also extremely important. In the main part of the panel, Penelope says, “I can’t see you but I feel you…” followed by, “judging me” (Page 176) Perhaps the guards are judging her by her appearance. Penelope does look quite different than normal women do. Or are they judging her by her past? Could they possibly be judging her for the acts that she has committed to get in jail? The dialogue in the first panel is a good starting point to make the reader wonder why the guards are judging her. The next panels can help answer why they are judging Penelope. 

 The last panel on page 188 looks like a flashback because the colors are dimmer than in the first panel. The artist uses a medium shot and is different than most of the other medium shots readers typically view. In this panel Penelope’s face is cut off, we cannot see exactly what her facial expressions are. This gives the reader an opportunity to interpret what her expressions are. With her face not visible, dialogue is key so the reader can guess what her facial expression is. A person near Penelope says, “You know what comes next, don’t you?” Penelope replies with a simple, “yes” (Page 188) What comes next for Penelope? There are clues in the panel that can help identify what is about to happen. In the small panel above the dialogue, there seems to be a hair straightener someone is cutting on. There is also a shadow in the main panel of a woman with what appears to be the hair straightener in hand. Why would someone want to straighten Penelope’s hair? In several previous panels, we can see why someone is straightening her hair. On the second panel on page 185, we see a group of people gathered around Penelope. Every person in this slide has the same general hair style, which is straightened hair. Perhaps Penelope is being judged by the way her hair looks, and someone is trying to straighten her hair.  The person might try to make Penelope look, “normal.” Knowing Penelope is judged by her appearance, the reader can assume her facial expressions are not of anger, but probably of sadness and disappointment. 

The last panel on page 197 is also a flashback. In this panel the colors are faded, like the previous panel on page 188. Penelope looks younger in this panel as well. Penelope’s facial expressions in this scene look as if she is sad and somewhat worried. She is wearing a headband or cloth, and there are two straps on her shirt that resemble an apron. In this flashback panel, she is an employee. In the background, there is a television that is broadcasting the news with a reporter and an image of a man beside her. The man is likely a criminal, as the image looks like a mugshot. The woman says on the broadcast, “Described as ‘the size of an oak’” (Page 197) The high angle shot used in the main frame of the panel immediately turns to an extreme close up shot. In this close up, Penelope’s facial expressions change from anxious and concern to anger. Her eyebrow dips after the news reporter makes that statement. There is a strange similarity between the man in the mugshot and Penelope. Both have long hair and they are bigger in size. The word described is a clue that the reporters/ possible witnesses are describing Penelope with that mugshot. As a man, that looks angry and violent. After she hears the commentary given by the reporter she is immediately angered. However, this could be someone else. Perhaps Penelope got angered by this statement because people have called her an oak as well. She could also be tired of people getting judged in this world she lives in. This again ties back to how the world that Penelope lives in is full of judgment. It is clear to the reader that Penelope is angered by the judgment that is present in her world. In every panel that has been brought up to this one, Penelope has been sad or angry. In a previous panel, Penelope goes crazy and starts to fight people in the restaurant. (first panel on page 196) By the commentary on the previous slides (page 195) we see that people are having conversations about their appearance and their hair styles, etc. and not normal everyday things. Perhaps Penelope finally snapped after years of listening to people judging others, and people judging her. This does not just represent Penelope standing up for herself, rather she is standing up for everyone who has been judged in this place that could be called judgment planet.

In the last panel on page 199, Penelope is again in a prison jumpsuit. This scene goes back to the time when she was a prisoner. She looks like she is in a chair or on a table strapped down with sensors stuck to her body. Her facial expressions are different from the previous panels in that she is laughing and possibly taunting someone. The author uses a medium close up shot which allows the reader to see the different items around Penelope, but the shot is close enough to see her facial expression. This panel shares a similarity to the first panel in that Penelope is in the future, but between the two panels, her facial expressions are different. In the panel on page 199, Penelope says, “And you bastards ain’t never gonna break me.” It seems that with her dialogue and her surroundings, that she is possibly being interrogated. Perhaps she committed a major crime and they're trying to get information out of her. This might be true, but this is not the case. From clues given by the previous panels, we can find that maybe the people who constantly judge her are trying to change who she is. In the world that Penelope lives in, everyone has to be the same. People are constantly trying to change others who do not fit into the category of “normal people.” Penelope might not be perfect to them.” The people from this world want to change Penelope into someone who she isn’t. 

By looking at four different panels in this story, we can see that Penelope is seen as different in the world she lives in. In the first panel, she states that the people are judging her. In the second panel (first flashback) a woman is trying to change her hairstyle to look “normal.” In the third panel (second flashback) she gets angry when she hears a news reporter judge someone by stating that the man in the mugshot was the size of “an oak” Using the evidence in the 3 panels we can see that Penelope is being judged. And in each panel where she is being judged, we can see by looking at her facial expressions that she clearly does not like to be judged. The world she is living in is full of judgment. Not just to her, but others. She is not normal to the people around her. Penelope’s anger and sadness could have originated in a flashback early on in the comic. (page 182) Penelope lost her mother because she was not normal to the state. She was abnormal to society and she was a threat. Penelope has a good reason why she is constantly angry and upset about the judgment around her because that is how she lost her mother. Although Penelope is upset and angry, her mother did teach her an important lesson on the first panel on page 179, Her mother stated, “Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” By Penelope’s facial expressions in the last panel on page 199, we can see that she is never going to be broken from who she is. She laughs at the fact that people want to change who she is. Even though she is not a “normal” woman, Penelope accepts who she is, and she is proud of it even if she is a criminal. The significance of this visual motif is that a reader can gather information about Penelope, and can use the dialogue provided to better understand Penelope’s situation. By looking at Penelope’s facial expressions in the different panels, we can see her reactions to the events around her. This can lead the reader to an understanding of what Penelope is going through. We can understand why Penelope wants to rebel against the judgmental society around her.
