'Cleopatra in Space' - a children's comic containing some of the best, most exciting action scenes I've ever seen in the graphic novel media, as well as one of the most genuinely kickarse action heroines ever.
It is a stupid comic with one of the stupidest, farthest-out-there premises to be conceived by a human, but it's the fun kind of stupid - it has fun with its premise and just rolls with it.A fifteen-year-old Cleopatra - apparently the Cleopatra - when sneaking into a hidden tomb, is mysteriously transported who-knows-how-many-millennia into the future, on another planet, in another galaxy entirely...where she becomes a sci-fi action heroine in a universe filled with aliens and high tech inventions, vehicles, and weapons. And connections and references to ancient Egypt. And cats. Lots of talking space cats.
One of them is a descendant of Cleopatra's pet cat, who is now her mentor.
She is prophesised to be the hero of the galaxy, but she still has to go to school and attend classes, much to her annoyance. But target practice class, and combat class, are her favourite and forte. Not ideal when she should additionally be the hero of lost knowledge, and a wise queen.
It's all as mad as it sounds, and it is awesome.
Like a slightly dark 'Atomic Betty'.
Cleopatra is very much a cartoon character here, like every other character. 'Cleopatra in Space' portrays her as a bored, snarky, rebellious teen who is careless, disrespectful, selfish, reckless and impulsive, who dislikes academia and parties, and disregards pretty much everything and everyone around her. She's a normal teenager, then; far from the powerful queen she is meant to be, from both history and in-story (sidenote: at the beginning of the story, in ancient Egypt, Cleopatra gets out of class by drugging her teacher, which actually sounds in line with her real life self as well as her cartoony rebel self where she fights aliens and robots in space). She's an excellent fighter and sharpshooter, so at the moment she's on her way to becoming a hero in the practical sense, valuing brawn and reflexes over brains.
She's no angsty teen; the comic isn't too concerned with the quippy princess's homesickness and missing her family and friends back in her own time and on her own planet. This young girl, who has just been forced into an entirely unfamiliar, confusing, overwhelming, scary and dangerous environment and situation, and who has just learned that everyone she ever knew is long dead, acclimates surprisingly quickly. She barely mentions anyone from her home, and even then not fondly. It's implied that maybe she is thinking about finding a way to travel back on her own, to keep herself sane. She's not onboard with the whole saviour of the galaxy prophecy, but that ties into her overall irresponsibleness and thoughtlessness; it is not framed as a reasonable reaction to the most demented, literally spaced-out situation anyone has ever found themselves in.
Her anachronistic, modern teen use of language, and attitude - to the point where she prefers to be called "Cleo" - are more amusing than annoying and distracting. Clearly 'Cleopatra in Space' is not meant to be taken seriously.
I think I don't mind the above points I've made because I actually find it to be really refreshing that a female protagonist doesn't give a shit about anything, especially in something aimed at children. Cleo gets on with the action, improvising as she goes along, and her ideas work out. She slowly but surely shows signs of future development. From bored, sheltered, insensitive, apathetic princess to smart, worldly (or universal, as the case is) and thoughtful queen.
I also adore her relationship with her school roommate, Akila. Female friendships forever!
Speaking of, Cleo's connection to the current queen of the alien planet she's
'Cleopatra in Space, Book One: Target Practice' is a guilty pleasure to be sure. It's fun, action-packed, kinetic and energetic, with a young, wild, impulsive and funny POC female lead. She's a REAL queen, baby! The comic contains genuinely good and witty jokes.
The only serious negative criticism I can give it is its cover has Cleo's male human friend, the inventor Brian, on it instead of Akila, when Brian comparatively plays a very small part in the volume.
On the subject of that friendship dynamic, there are hints of a love triangle looming on the horizon, on an uncomfortably near nebula - even a love square, judging by the blurb of the sequel volume. So for self-care reasons, I won't be following any more of 'Cleopatra in Space'. I want to keep the fun, carefree and awesomely kickarse cosmic Cleopatra fresh and untainted in my memory. And come on, why give her any kind of love life when she should be processing her truly traumatic circumstances? And be concerned about returning home - vague, mysterious alien threats be damned? (Yeah, the "main villain", the tyrannical data-looting Xaius Octavian, isn't made into a character yet, only an infodump player as part of Cleo's call to adventure.)
To end on: I have to praise the children's comic for overtly accentuating the importance of knowledge and recorded histories, to go with its batshit, mischievous premise, humour, colours, and action set pieces.
Cosmic action heroine Cleopatra FTW!
Final Score: 3.5/5
P.S. When it comes to sci-fi comics starring female protagonists and legions of talking, deceitful cats, I like this better than 'Monstress'. Bizarre to compare them, I know, when the two have nothing else in common, including tonally and aesthetically. The age gap between their target audiences alone is a huge, scary void. As to how I could I favour 'Cleopatra in Space'? I guess I prefer a breezy, simple action adventure that wants to entertain its readers, over being overwhelmed and mindf****d with too much information and too many ideas and characters on every page.
P.P.S. Unpopular opinion: I find 'Cleopatra in Space' to be more enjoyable than 'Zita the Spacegirl'. There, I said it. I'm not taking it back.
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