American Reaper - Book One
I’m watching the latest series of The Handmaid’s Tale and there’s the same sociopathic justification for the most evil of crimes.
Early promo video for Reaper!
SPOILER ALERT!
Some of the plot details are mentioned and are shown in scenes below in this look at Book One, which introduces Detective Matherson and his world.
One of my favourite scenes includes this page, with the Stop and Scan advert (by Fay Dalton) worked into the art.
I shared Fay’s full Stop and Scan poster in last week’s American Reaper post.
The ID Thieves are bad, but the Reaper cops aren’t that much better!
This next sample sequence shows the identity thieves have captured a young woman and a coffin-cheater will shortly inhabit her body. The thieves tell the girl not to be scared because what’s about to happen to her is actually very exciting. After the transplant, she’s going to be sharing her youthful, body with an older, wiser, more mature woman!
It’s complete fucking bullshit, of course, but it’s exactly the kind of crap these evil traffickers would come out with. I found myself feeling furious as I read it again and looked forward to the Reaper’s intervention at the end of the scene.
Currently, I’m watching the latest series of The Handmaid’s Tale and there’s the same sociopathic justification for the most evil of crimes. It’s not enough to do terrible things to another human being, they have to be rationalised and excused as justifiable and necessary. No wonder the Handmaid, brilliantly played by Elizabeth Moss, is so savage and no wonder Reaper Matherson is equally brutal.
SPOILER ALERT FOR EPISODE 10 SEASON 4 OF THE HANDMAID’S TALE
In The Handmaid’s Tale, the fabulous and emotional song ‘You don’t own me’ by Lesley Gore is played as Commander Waterford is torn apart by avenging Handmaids, a scene I enjoyed so much I must watch it a second time.
‘You don’t own me’ has been one of my favourite songs from when I was a rebellious teenager – a resistance anthem for youth as well as a feminist anthem – and I’d love to hear a similar song when the ID Thieves, who believe they own the women they’ve trafficked, get dealt with by the Reaper. But I rather think ‘You don’t own me’ is a unique classic.
There’s a shock ending to American Reaper Book One when the ID thieves have found a way to beat the Reaper’s scanners. This means…. It’s open season on kids!
There’s more nightmares to come in Book Two which I’ll talk about next week!
REAPER THE KICKSTARTER
We’re getting great positive feedback on our Reaper Kickstarter plans. Let us know more about what you think. Three books sounds right to us, similar size to the 2000AD Megazine where it originally appeared. Does that work for you? I can’t wait to see it collected!
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