Aminder DhaliwalBesprekingen

Cute! Just enough plot to keep you going

This was clever and super cute, and after Y: The Last Man I was hungry for a positive narrative about a world without men (although of course there's always Ammonite). Still, I wish I could have experienced it in serial form, because I think it loses some of its humor read in one sitting.

I'm ambivalent about how Dhaliwal handles the issue of trans folk - on one hand this is a silly fantasy story about being a woman in a binarist society, so obviously you should make it inclusive of trans women. On the other hand the story erases non-binary people and this bums me out. I think the correct solution is a mini-comic about Non-binary Nation, which is an island off the coast of Woman World (transportation between the two realms provided by the Femme Ferry).

A beautifully drawn, wonderfully written story with a wonderful cast of characters. A very important and well-written run of stories about discrimination, subtle racism, institutionalized racism, microaggressions, and just... many different kinds of prejudice.

The part that stood out to me most was the line "about the lack of [group] representation even in [group]-driven art", particularly in recent book-banning debates. Schools are trying to ban "Maus", an incredibly phenomenal novel about the Holocaust from the perspective of Jews, and others are arguing about how stories about Jews and the Holocaust are often more readily accepted when they are written by and star Gentiles. We can't even star in films that are purportedly about us (e.g., "Woman in Gold", a story about the the Nazis stealing from Jews and using art featuring us as a status symbol; the film starred Gentiles playing Jews). So that really hit home.

I also loved the queer rep. There were some really lovely queer storylines and different relationship dynamics. And I loved all the references to mythology, even down to naming the characters.

Overall, a really lovely graphic novel.

So cute!

This was a really funny, poignant look at a potential world without men decades into the future.

The art is basic, the lines simple and smooth, for the most part, but that's what works. I just loved the occasional change in style.

There were so many times I just burst out laughing.

An amusing but thought-provoking collection of one- or two-page Instagram cartoons features an ensemble cast of one-eyed Cyclopes dealing with identity issues, relationships, microaggressions, discrimination, and bigotry in a world in which they are a minority to the two-eyed people who treated them as outright monsters for much of their shared history. There's no big plot uniting the book, but all of the characters have their own little arcs that kept me engaged.

The world-building seems incomplete even though it's just supposed to be our world but with Cyclopes. I thought it was a little odd that the Cyclopes are portrayed as multi-colored on the few color pages, but skin color seems to play no part in the prejudice against them or within their own culture. And while a few of the humans are portrayed as BIPOC, no time is spent on how they specifically relate to Cyclopes, whether they are allies in the struggle against discrimination or not. Does traditional racism not exist because of the presence of Cyclopes? What were the historical implications as to slavery, civil and world wars, and genocides? Also, a large portion of the cast are models, artists, or writers, leaving me to wonder how the blue-collar folks are getting by.

If you enjoy this, be sure to check out the author's similarly structured previous book, Woman World.

What if only women remain? They would have a lot of fun finding friendship, joy in life, and their own voices.

Not quite sure how I feel about this one. I was a fan of the online comic and wasn't sure what to expect of the published version.

Like Go to Sleep (I Miss You), Woman World is mostly just a collection of the webcomics in print form--a big part of the reason I got this from the library instead of buying it. Like collections of Sunday comic strips, there's no linear narrative to tie everything together, though there are central recurring characters and a few story arcs.

Dhaliwal's multi-frame Instagram posts were much better suited to conversion into book format than Ngozi's rectangular Check, Please! panels were. Most of the comic "strips" appear on a single page so that it's easy to tell them apart...but not all of them do. There were a handful of times when a comic stretched over two pages, which left me (briefly) wondering why the punchline panel was supposed to be funny until I read the next panel and realized it was a continuation.

Unlike Go to Sleep (I Miss You), Woman World has a few new pieces scattered throughout: a little introduction with some background on why there are no men and why buildings are abandoned and run down, three images of a pair of statues of women as they break down over time, and a little afterword to provide some closure. I totally get wanting to add some value to the book to justify getting people to buy it and the afterword gave me a couple chuckles...but I honestly would have preferred more one-off comics.

Part of Woman World's charm, when it was online, was the complete lack of explanation about what had happened to make men disappear/die off. The comments exploded with "but how does THAT work?!" when one of the main recurring characters mentioned that she was trans. So trying to give background on what happened just made the whole situation weirder instead of keeping the, "just run with it" vibe, especially since in the very first comic it seems like the men just suddenly disappeared. And I don't know how to feel about those statues... On the one hand, they're classical statues of ideal versions of women, so their breakdown could show that the women are breaking free from old ideas. However, they seem like a pretty liberated lot from the start and don't have any discovering-new-freedoms arcs. My first thought when I saw the second image was actually, "wait, does this represent society breaking down?", though the community itself contradicts that.

Anyway, it's a collection of cute and quirky webcomics that probably doesn't need as much thought as I've given it here. It’s charming and will probably give you a chuckle, as long as you’re not offended by nudists, transwomen, or lesbians. It’s a bunch of women doing their thing and saying and doing things that they might not say or do if men were still around. Pick it up at the library for a quick, fun read!

Hysterical (appropriate word) for this graphic novel. Thought provoking premise on a future of only women. Provides laughs, feel good moments, retrospection and introspection. Highly recommend.

When I found out that the creator of Woman World (which I've recommended to almost everyone I know) had another book out I immediately ordered it without even bothering to check the synopsis. [A/N: I'm not a regular follower of her web comics on Instagram but I understand that this book is a combination of those as well as some additional pages on the same theme.]

In essence, this book is a satirical look at 'otherness' through the lens (haha the pun ain't lost on me) of several Cyclopes who are just trying to live their lives like the rest of the Two-Eyes on the planet. We follow Arj who is a super klutz, Bron who had corrective eye surgery that went badly wrong, Pol who continues to seek his 'happily ever after', and a whole host of other delightfully fleshed out characters. It has just enough humor to not make it depressing or preachy while also alighting on topics that are serious and complex such as bullying, body dysmorphia, sexual fetishization of the 'exotic', and intermarriage (just to name a few). These weighty topics are addressed beautifully by Dhaliwal. This is an author/illustrator to keep your eye(s) on because she's doing fantastic storytelling and I have a feeling she's only going to get better from here. I think you can already guess how I feel about this book but just in case you're on tenterhooks I really liked it. *mega thumbs up*

Weird. Funny.

100% Team Aminder.

So many LOLZ. I want to read this forever.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA begins as an encyclopedia entry on Cyclops: a totally real subspecies of "archaic humans" that originated in Italy and settled in western Eurasia, only to emerge from an isolated existence in caves and volcanoes ~120 years ago. Their efforts to integrate into "Two-Eyed" societies were often thwarted; Cyclopses were relegated to sheep herding, their traditional vocation, or recruited into circuses. All this changed with a nudie magazine called Playclops, which in 1978 featured a model named Etna on its cover.

At which point Etna comes to life and invites the reader to learn about Cyclops through their own stories. The comic strips in CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA revolve around a large cast of Cyclops characters, loosely connected Six-Degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon style. There's Pari and Tim, an interspecies couple about to welcome their first child into the world; Latea, an aspiring model and actress; Pol, a romantic whose optimism is slowly but surely being drained by the dating scene; Bron, one of the first Cyclops to undergo experimental two-eye surgery, and who once again lives with one functioning eye; Arj, a vibrating ball of anxiety still haunted by his childhood bully; Grae and Jian, twin sisters in an avant garde artistic partnership; and, of course, former cover model Etna, now an activist, counterbalanced by Vy, who for a time was the face of the "lift and separator" bra, and now teaches media literacy to impressionable young Cyclopses.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/51118082551/

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The characters' life experiences and relationships with one another hint at some of the many topics Dhaliwal explores: fetishization, representation (including #ownvoices), unrealistic (and speciesist) beauty standards, police bias, hate crimes, capitalism, scientific speciesism, microaggressions, maternal mortality, etc.

Among my favorite panels are parents-to-be Pari and Tim declaring that they don't care whether their baby has one eyes or two, as long as they're healthy - and a boy (!);

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/51117995133/

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and Arj, confronting his childhood bully Eric Wood.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/51117995088/

CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA is an insightful, entertaining read, though it gave me all kinds of mixed feelings. Dhaliwal uses a mythical creature to interrogate racism, xenophobia, and misogyny - and, while I think it mostly works, the idea itself makes me uncomfortable: what does it say about the collective we, if we're better able to relate to or sympathize with a fictional creature than, say, Black people or immigrants? I guess you could argue that fantastical setting and comedic setup might lower the audience's guard, making them more susceptible to your message. And yeah, this is probably true, to an extent. But this makes me wonder how many readers will actually connect the dots, especially as Dhaliwal tends to end each strip with a lighthearted joke rather than doubling down on her point.

Either way, I enjoyed CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA (even more so on the second reading), and can't wait to dive into her freshman book, WOMAN WORLD.

A hilarious story about how the world would be if men no longer existed. Extinct like the dinosaurs. Lots of beautiful illustrations, and packed full of feminism. Also goes over some issues like government, falling in love, and relationship problems.

A comic look at a world where men have died out. Extremely "gentle" (ie. a bit insipid) humour. The characters were OK. Women here seem to have little difficulty adjusting to a world without men; they seem completely unnecessary, Disclaimer: I am a man so maybe I'm not supposed to find any of it funny.

It was ok. Some real funny bits and I like the art a lot. This is *very* binary and doesn't do a reassuring enough job addressing even binary trans folx to make me comfy or be ok recommending it to most of my pals. Overall, good but flawed in a way that erases me personally and many others.

Student Review By: Sara R (Grade 12)
Grade Range: 9th Grade and up
Literary Merit: Excellent
Characterization: Good

Review:

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal follows a group of women and their attempt to deal with the end of the world. The end was brought about by a genetic defect which slowly caused every man on earth to die, and for only women to be born. Only Grandma Ulaana remembers anything of society from before the last man died, and she teaches her curious granddaughter everything she can. The rest of the women live in a settlement named “Beyonce’s Thighs”. The women in the book spend time pining for each other and questioning what life was like when men still existed.

The witty, feminist humor in this book was like a breath of fresh air. I adored how Dhaliwal portrayed the “end of the world” storyline while still being humorous. It was a nice change from the typical darker storylines found in books like this. Every single character was hilarious and relatable for women everywhere. I greatly enjoyed the diversity between the women and how each of their viewpoints were represented within the story. I enjoyed that even though the book was done in a series of small comics, the story was still linear and easy to follow. The author’s message was subtle, hinting at how women are often treated in today’s society and the roadblocks they often face simply because of their gender.

Recommendation: Anyone who enjoys feminist humor, wonderful art, and a good “end of the world” type story.

Super fun!

The set-up: The world slowly changed as male babies stopped being born and the remaining men died off with the passage of time. But then natural disasters destroyed civilization, leaving the surviving women in a fairly functional post-apocalyptic dystopia (or utopia depending on one's point of view) of small communities where they live and work together.

The execution: The story is told in a series of one- or two-page gag strips that were originally released on Instagram. Not only are they funny, they hang together well enough to weave an engaging tapestry of relationships: friendly, professional, familial, and romantic.

I would love to see a sequel filling out the details of events mentioned in the epilogue.