A review by whipcreamsucks
Miss Don't Touch Me: Complete Set by Hubert
3.0
Complex, lurid and depressing, but also where the characters still preserve a strong cartoon style complete with noodle limbs. I've been on a lookout for Kerascoët ever since being utterly blown away by Beautiful Darkness in 2015. So hearing about this comic following a vengeful French maid working as a dominatrix in a 30's brothel was excellent. It's right up my alley.
Through 4 chapters we follow Blanche, a maid who witnesses the murder of her sister Agatha at the hands of the mysterious "Butcher of the Dances." When she manages to get help, Agatha has been set up to look like she committed suicide, and Blanche is dismissed from her position as a maid. She makes it her goal to avenge Agatha and find her killer, and undergoes one of the most disquieting (and truly striking) character developments I've ever seen. It's a descent into darkness that doesn't once feel overdone or gratuitous.
But here's the thing: while a definite page-turner, I can't help but be reminded of the dreaded Madonna-Whore Complex trope throughout the first volume. Blanche works as the eponymous Miss Don't Touch Me, a 'virgin of steel' who whips men in the brothel. And her virginity is the sole characteristic that sets her apart from all the other girls- who I might add are portrayed as vapid snakes who are just out to get her. It's said that the reason for their dislike of Blanche is because the previous Miss Don't Touch Me was a Butcher victim, but the things they did to her due to this mostly came off as disproportionate retribution. They do everything from to
In Vol. 2 things get depressingly bittersweet. I'm talking perhaps Heather O'Neill-level kind of depressing bittersweet. After having avenged Agatha, Blanche's story takes a bit of an abrupt turn when she falls in love with Antoine, a high-class client who strangely isn't interested in touching her. They dance, talk and go out for strolls. He has no problems having her on his arm and buys her presents, even introducing her to his mother (which pisses her OFF). He announces that they are engaged without having even proposed to Blanche. Oh, and her mother returns out of the blue, but Blanche isn't alone anymore and all is good for a moment. A moment.
The thing is, I can't help but feel that the second part feels like the story itself went out-of-character. Agatha who? The Butcher who? Blanche is obviously not the same person from Vol. 1. She is willing to see the man she so loves undergo a forced lobotomy to cure his homosexuality. Her mother flakes on her, taking all the valuables and running away, leaving her alone again. The ending tore me between bittersweet and 'what the fuCK man.' You see the art come into one of its most gorgeous moments-. I felt like the victim of a prank. I refused to sleep because I reread it in search of, I don't know, answers. Something. But here's what I gather as I type this review: there are no answers. This comic is, above all, a tragedy. Perhaps I see Vol. 2's arc the way I see it because it feels undoubtedly realistic.
But part of me wishes Vol. 2. wasn't there. It doesn't actually... serve the story any purpose. It feels like a genre earthquake. I couldn't find it in me to root for Blanche as I did in Vol. 1, but I also couldn't not feel sorry for her.
All in all. This is one of the more memorable comics I've seen. It's cute but far from lighthearted. It's complex but never convoluted. It's something that has definitely left an impression.
Through 4 chapters we follow Blanche, a maid who witnesses the murder of her sister Agatha at the hands of the mysterious "Butcher of the Dances." When she manages to get help, Agatha has been set up to look like she committed suicide, and Blanche is dismissed from her position as a maid. She makes it her goal to avenge Agatha and find her killer, and undergoes one of the most disquieting (and truly striking) character developments I've ever seen. It's a descent into darkness that doesn't once feel overdone or gratuitous.
But here's the thing: while a definite page-turner, I can't help but be reminded of the dreaded Madonna-Whore Complex trope throughout the first volume. Blanche works as the eponymous Miss Don't Touch Me, a 'virgin of steel' who whips men in the brothel. And her virginity is the sole characteristic that sets her apart from all the other girls- who I might add are portrayed as vapid snakes who are just out to get her. It's said that the reason for their dislike of Blanche is because the previous Miss Don't Touch Me was a Butcher victim, but the things they did to her due to this mostly came off as disproportionate retribution. They do everything from
Spoiler
cutting off her hair as she sleepsSpoiler
drugging her at a partySpoiler
. The latter causes her to lose her job, but wait it's not over yet!In Vol. 2 things get depressingly bittersweet. I'm talking perhaps Heather O'Neill-level kind of depressing bittersweet. After having avenged Agatha, Blanche's story takes a bit of an abrupt turn when she falls in love with Antoine, a high-class client who strangely isn't interested in touching her. They dance, talk and go out for strolls. He has no problems having her on his arm and buys her presents, even introducing her to his mother (which pisses her OFF). He announces that they are engaged without having even proposed to Blanche. Oh, and her mother returns out of the blue, but Blanche isn't alone anymore and all is good for a moment. A moment.
The thing is, I can't help but feel that the second part feels like the story itself went out-of-character. Agatha who? The Butcher who? Blanche is obviously not the same person from Vol. 1. She is willing to see the man she so loves undergo a forced lobotomy to cure his homosexuality. Her mother flakes on her, taking all the valuables and running away, leaving her alone again. The ending tore me between bittersweet and 'what the fuCK man.' You see the art come into one of its most gorgeous moments-
Spoiler
the murky darkness of Paris and Blanche longing for an invisible Antoine, and the gaudy luridness of Blanche's human garbage mother sucking face as she dances at a Brazillian partyBut part of me wishes Vol. 2. wasn't there. It doesn't actually... serve the story any purpose. It feels like a genre earthquake. I couldn't find it in me to root for Blanche as I did in Vol. 1, but I also couldn't not feel sorry for her.
All in all. This is one of the more memorable comics I've seen. It's cute but far from lighthearted. It's complex but never convoluted. It's something that has definitely left an impression.