THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES graphic novel by Alan More & Ian Gibson
This graphic novel had a huge impact on me when I was a teenager.
It follows the main character Halo Jones from adolescence well into adulthood. Growing up in a futuristic giant housing complex where shopping expeditions are life endangering and despair and boredom kill its inhabitants she takes a chance to leave for space as an interstellar hostess. Later she becomes a mercenary fighting in a terrible war where she also meets her love interest who is basically a war criminal and tied to her past in ways that horrify her. I think I don´t give away too much by saying that in the end she never loses her moral compass.
Halo Jones is a well rounded character who takes her destiny into her own hands. She makes decisions and suffers the consequences, she grows, she learns and is never defined by familiy or the men she encounters. Halo loses people she loves and forms new, meaningful friendships. She falls in love but never gives herself up. Not bad for a graphic novel that was published in the ‘80s and written by a man. The novel is full of interesting female characters. I´m sure by today´s sensibilities there are many things to criticize. I won´t because I´m biased and I still love Halo as much as I loved her back when I was a teen.
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Monsters and Villains 