SoE - Breaking the Law

Decades ago in a more innocent, less secular, and less sexual time, the system of this story might have been seen as simply an innocuous, innovative, and potentially even romantic manner of entertainment. Sadly we now live in a world of constant distrust where roles are always questioned, the damsel is not always rescued, and there is always the strong possibility that anything could be a source of fetishism or even perversion, such as our heroine's meeting a grisly death.

Fortunately, real-life beautiful damsel Heart Gear has found a way to be satisfying without descending into the pornographic, and she does it with an effective artistic style and flair. The red koopa sentry's steady exposition is accompanied by illustration which is best described as tantalizing, regardless of whether or not one finds oneself sexually aroused in the process.

The first and last panel bookend this installment with the recently 'princessified' former bounty hunter fruitlessly struggling against her bonds. Given Samus' vigor and flexibility, it is understandable that her skirts would be in disarray and her legs thus on display, and nearly every fold is rendered quite accurately. Her difficult position is also well-illustrated, and despite their distance and awkward angle, 'Princess' Samus' heels nevertheless are portrayed quite realistically (one can even estimate from this and other artwork featuring her that 'Princess' Aran's heels are between 3.5" and 4.25"). From my former-bondage-model judgement, it appears that Heart Gear either had or was herself a live and well-dressed/trussed model, and I do hope that this process was quite enjoyable for all involved.

The middle of the page delivers a fine performance of illustrating precisely how the Third Law has been modified to suppress anyone resembling a princess; first in a cute and comical overall diagram, and then in a precise and quite-literally tight display of the progression of her restraints (displayed with such detailed accuracy that one can even see the seams in Samus' princess gloves). The first arrow-shaped panel shows arm- and wrist-ties which are reasonably effective yet wouldn't hold one of Samus' warrior strength and ninja-like dexterity forever, while the second links the two ties and renders them more taut to permit less wiggle-room (and even Samus' skirts show the additional pressure placed upon her). The third phase's restraints are still a mystery (block), yet there is still much room for upgrades.

While the line work still has a somewhat rough look to it, the rendering is excellent and Heart Gear even employs artistic visual metaphor; the moss on the cage bars in the final panel suggests a cloud of frustration above Samus' head (as Heart Gear would have been entitled to use literally in a comic format but which she deftly evaded to create a more realistic environment).

I shall add one final bit of insight regarding the princess-related underlying message of the narrative here, for I myself have a small bit of regal ancestry (my last royal ancestress was upon the Dutch throne approximately two centuries ago); not enough to have a title without outside assistance, yet enough to have had awareness of my royal blood worked into my upbringing and to have been addressed as "your highness" with at least a modicum of sincerity. I thus find it intriguing how the title of "Princess", in conjunction with the ultimatum "learn your place", is used almost as an epithet. It is well to know that a classic princess is described as "practically a saint with a royal title" because in reality this was often literally the case (from St. Catherine of Alexandria onward), yet Heart Gear manages to circumvent even the possible sexism of her dialogue with the overarching elements of her story. Samus, whose skill set and background are so masculine that she was actually mistaken for a man throughout the first Metroid adventure, apparently shall need to adapt to a role outside of the "comfort zone" of her experience to meet with success here. Given Heart Gear's stated mission to "give the damsel more autonomy" combined with the fact that she hasn't yet turned this story into Anita Sarkeesian's "Last Princess", it seems that 'Princess' Aran may emerge from this ordeal an even better woman than she was when she started.