Menstruation Station: Menarche Aboard! by Jen Vaughn

menstruation-stationHow could I resist? Though I didn’t get my copy at a convention, and therefore missed out on the free tampon, there was no way I would miss a book with such bloody themes.

Jen Vaughn is a MFA student at CCS. Her focus in Menstruation Station is less coming-of-age wah wahs and more fantasies inspired by blood and blood production. “Safety Net” is a circus love story gone down the drain and the inside of a vagina, “VIP Seats” is about sacrifices people make for the rock and roll lifestyle, and “Charms” is a funny, Buffy-style take on teenage witchery. “So Now You Are a Woman” is the only take on menarche proper, and instead of being smug and reassuring like most stories about that first bloody day, it’s a negative (and very true) rendering of the experience.

The four short stories and assorted extras in the mini show her facility depicting motion and the emotions of the characters through facial expression. The inky brushwork in concert with light, deft lines, add a lushness to some of her subjects (hair, shadows, blood fountains) and move your eye around each panel. Perhaps I’m a bit old-fashioned, but my reading experience would have been a bit better if each story had a title panel, or some other way of signaling the start of a new story.

Because Vaughn’s character design is so good, I wanted the stories to be longer and fuller. I am looking forward to the next installment.

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6 Responses to Menstruation Station: Menarche Aboard! by Jen Vaughn

  1. Looka says:

    Hey coooool!
    CCS=not so secretly awesome.
    I haven’t read this (of course, being so suprised by it…) but generally I’d like the idea of the title not being a element in the page. I move around ideas of how to do this myself, but just starting off with it seems good! BLabla…

    THE UTERUS MASKS ON HER SITE ARE HILARIOUS (GREAT, THOUGHTFUL… FUNNY, sadly reminding)!!!

  2. Looka says:

    Also, the artwork (why the hell did I not write that first??) = freakout!

  3. carrie says:

    Yes, I dig the uterus masks as well.

  4. Randall Drew says:

    Congrats to my fellow CCSer at getting a HAWT review here at Inkstuds! Can’t wait to see what she cranks out for thesis year!

  5. jen vaughn says:

    Thanks for the wonderful review, Carrie! And I totally agree with the titles needing to be larger. I’ll send you the next mini straight away.

  6. sean ford says:

    go get’em, jv! nice job!

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