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Jul 15, 2017

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 871: Weather Woman #1, August 2000

https://www.comics.org/issue/1172306/

I've had Weather Woman kicking around in the collection for 15 years or so now, and I've glanced at it every now and again, mostly because of the alluring J.G. Jones cover on the first issue. I did a little bit of research on it before reading, mostly because I wanted to see how many issues there are (8, and I have  of them), and it turns out that the film adaptation of the manga was a surprise hit in Japan.

An interesting story so far, one issue in, and an opening page I won't soon forget (the main character masturbating in a bathroom). There's something disturbingly stalkerish about the lead male character, though I'm beginning to find that this is a relatively common trope in this kind of dramatic/black comedy manga. I'm sure he's in for much humiliation and embarrassment over the course of the next few days.

For those unfamiliar with the series the premise follows Keiko, a weather woman on a Japanese television station, who intentionally flashes her underwear on a broadcast, and subsequently becomes a star. I'm curious to see if the series rests on this premise, or if we're going to see, as the Wikipedia entry suggests, a bit more satire and consideration of how sex plays into television and whether (pun intended) or not it has any place on this kind of television.

To be continued.

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