Week 9 - Blueberry by Mobius (5 points)

 

    For context I looked at Blueberry volumes 1, 2 and 3.

    It’s interesting to see how some tropes have persisted over the decades. The Blueberry books were from the 1980’s, over 40 years ago now, and I still see the same tropes in media today. Heck, even Ducktales (2017) uses the deceitful blonde beauty who cheats the hero out of his old western gold trope. So many of the women with speaking lines were blonde and I had some trouble telling them apart at this late hour. What’s with the blondes? It did surprise me though how many of the blonde women had agency. Chihuahua Pearl in the first book eventually joins the adventure party and even wears pants! Of course, she’s still a zesty love interest for the hero, but seeing her wear a cowboy hat and hold a weapon was nice. What wasn’t so nice was seeing her get smacked around by the protagonist. I mean I only saw it once, but it made me realize how old the “smacking the beautiful lady for her own good” trope is. The hero is seen as manly for doing so and I hate that, but so goes my modern sensibilities.

    In terms of the art it is surprisingly illustrative. I imagine Moebius did many a figure study. There are no pretty people in these books. They are detailed out to the point of grotesque. Everyone has the world’s most pronounced jowls and beard scruff. It does help set the tone though. Given the length of the series, the varying environments and characters and the detail of the illustrations, I think that this narrative could give Westworld a run for its money.