59-60.
Title: [Lost Girls: Volume 1] and [Lost Girls: Volume 2]
Author: Alan Moore
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Borrowed from Diss Adviser
Date Completed: June 16-17, 2016
Rating: ****

Alan Moore's three-volume Lost Girls is a pornographic re-visitation of three familiar fairytale characters meeting, and enjoying clandestine affairs, in an unusual hotel.  Alice (of Wonderland) is a wealthy elderly lesbian who has been socially shunned from her family - not that she cares much; Wendy (Darling) is a meek and submissive wife still daydreaming of dalliances in the park with a fairy-like young man; Dorthy is a spunky American Westerner spinning yarns of frisky farm life for her European companions. Together, the women share their sexually deviant but fulfilling histories, while enjoying a casual intimacy which is represented as comfortable and engaging, asking nothing and giving everything: the stories known to us as children are represented as metaphors for sexual awakenings and adventures in a very adult world. Realistically, there are some power dynamics which show a tendency towards predatory consumption of  young women, and taboos are unapologetically represented as part of the characters histories. In the telling, though, Moore gives each of the characters agency, allowing them the pursuit of pleasure and interesting a way that would have been (and arguable still can be) denied young women, and negates any sense of shame or apology. In a first reading I'd then suggest that this is an intriguingly feminist text, at once acknowledging how society and social groups can take advantage of young women, and how those same young omen can find their own autonomy in the ownership of their sexuality. Moore's take on these traditional female figures captures and articulates the strange in-betweeness of Victorian sexuality - that which shouldn't be, but is undeniably there. It also expresses a keen understanding of intended audience and fairy tales, giving back to adults a space of fantasy and metaphor that the Victorians relinquished to children. The series was recommended to me by one of my dissertation advisers as I first approached a project on gender and Victorian novels and modern comics, and it's something to think about as I move forward with the project.

61.
Title: [The Female Detective]
Author: Andrew Forrester
Genre: Detective Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Beach Read
Date Completed: July 5, 2016
Rating: ***

Andrew Forrester's The Female Detective, published in 1864, is the first of its kind*, introducing a female protagonist in a relatively new genre. Using the name of Mrs. Gladden, although never actually recognizing this as her legal name, the female detective in question introduces the occupation to her readers in a series of narratives, both justifying her position and actions and relating the specifics of a series of "cases" in which she is involved.  As a whole, the novel is clumsy and unsure of itself, using bracketed asides and footnotes to try to direct and clarify and generally justify the text, characters, and occupation itself. Interestingly, a true organization of occupation familiar to modern readers (and anyone familiar with police procedurals!) is missing, and Mrs. G reads more like a busybody with police connections than a competent professional; for example, in one significant case she takes it upon herself to research the strange adoption of a young girl, whose household presence secures a financial legacy, ultimately revealing the results of her investigation because it is "required" of her position, though she was hired of no one and her investigation threatens to bring true harm to very good people. Her works seems more like that of cozy mystery protagonists than a professional detective, which has interesting gender implications for the genre itself.  Not good in its own right, Forrester's novel is nonetheless an interesting cultural object for the study of Victorian culture, and the evolution of the genre.

*Like many "firsts", this is a bit contentious. However, despite the existence of Ruth the Betrayer from 1862/3, I'll maintain for my own purposes that Forrester's novel is "first." My own personal justification for this is that Ellis' text is a serial penny dreadful, a different form of publication from Forrester's formal novel publication.  Therefore, Ellis' spy may be the first female detective in English, but Forrester's novel is the first female detective novel.

62.
Title: [Clean Room]
Author: Gail Simone
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Pre-ordered
Date Completed: July 6, 2016
Rating: *****

A well-written, strongly-illustrated, highly-compelling graphic novel. Clean Room takes a Scientology-esque institution and places it into productive action, revealing an alternative awareness of the world which both enlightens and terrifies those who know. Astrid Mueller is a horror writer turned self-help guru who has attracted a large umber of devoted followers, including nearly all of Hollywood, who attend weekly "readings" and espouse her wisdom. The organization is also cited in a number of suicides, calling into question Mueller's intentions and control, and whether or not her "help" is really positive. When a reporter's fiance falls under Mueller's spell, and kills himself suddenly, she makes it her mission to expose Mueller and take down the organization. Of course, there is far more to the story than she imagines, which she discovers after being allowed a rare glimpse into the "clean room" that is Astrid's true command center. The book is a creative take on alternative social communities and suggestive of a real horror that will leave readers on edge.  The character development is strong and largely believable, making the fantastic all the more possible.  Very well done.