On -isms: Hysteria

By | Thursday, June 15, 2017 Leave a Comment
Look, Howard Chaykin is an excellent craftsmen when it comes to comic book storytelling. He's one of the few professional creators that brings a sense of design to his pages. But Hysteria... no. Just... no.

Image publisher Eric Stephenson said of the series, "a society, not on the verge, but in the midst of collapse... its warts-and-all depiction of the modern world reveals it to be an ugly place, governed by hatred, fear, and intolerance."

The first issue includes a brutally viscous attack on a trans woman from a gang of men who are surprised to discover she's trans. The character clearly states, though, that every one of them knew beforehand, and the attack is presented as a reaction to seeing what's in her underwear. As if she were no longer female, and they were suddenly having gay sex. She then goes on to note -- during the attack -- that they'll likely escape punishment precisely because she's trans.

I haven't read the issue myself, just two pages from this particular sequence, so I'm not really in a position to comment on it. Also, I'm a cisgendered heterosexual guy, so even if I had read it, I wouldn't be in a good position to speak to the potential impact of this scene. So let's do something that more people should do more often: listen to those who are closer to these types of scenarios...
Fuck all the way off.
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