REVIEW: ‘Hex Wives,’ Issue #6

Hex Wives #6 is published by DC Vertigo, written by Ben Blacker, with art from Mirka Andolfo, colors by Marissa Louise, and letters from Josh Reed. Last issue, the women discovered their power and were met with the mother witch and are now ready to free themselves from their husbands, well, captors.

This issue focuses on the women regaining their agency and moving to thrive instead of just surviving. That being said, the dialogue for Becky, again is cringey, to say the least. As the only plus-sized and Black character in the comic, Becky has gotten the short straw when it comes to dialogue. Given Blacker’s positionality, I’m not surprised but I am extremely disappointed.

I mentioned in my review of issue number four that Becky’s dialogue is forced. This is issue is worse, including but not limited to “we look f****** lit,” which is a line said in a speech bubble literally in the background of the scene and a weird usage of the word. It exists to nothing else but let us know what Blacker thinks Becky sounds like, although her exclamation adds nothing to the scene.

Ultimatley, she’s turned into a caricature, she is the mostly filled with rage in comparison to her mostly white and all thin coven members, she is the only one who curses, and ultimately Blacker chose to make his only plus-sized character say the words: “I’m going to cook you and eat you motherf***ers.”

I can’t get over this mistreatment and leaning into stereotypes from a comic that aims to be progressive. It’s quite infuriating. While I understand that Becky’s reaction to her husband has to do with the mistreatment of her when compared against the other characters, it’s uneven and if someone who has never read the series picked up this issue, they would be offended. While the topic of fetishization is important, I’m not sure Blacker has the range to tackle this with just setting “Marky Mark” on fire.

Although I want to follow this newly formed coven on their adventure outside of their white picket cages, the dialogue is a high hurdle to jump over. In fact, a lot of the talk about the overcoming the husbands is extremely hamfisted. When compared to a book like Man-Eaters, written by Chelsea Cain, a book with a similar focus of smashing the patriarchy, it doesn’t hold. In fact, it reads like a guy who thinks “this is the right thing to say.”

The sad fact is that the dialogue overshadows the phenomenal art from Andolfo, who again beautifully builds panels with layers to them, especially those with fire. In addition to the illustration, the colors are also wonderful. Louise’s use of opposing colors pink and green to set the tone for the women versus the architects is extremely well done. The horror elements of the comic are also illustrated extremely well and the kills are great. That being said, I can’t get past the dialogue and unless this switches gears, I’m going to stop reading. The series has made it its mission to empower women and show the damage of patriarchy, but with its treatment of Becky, the series is failing one if its characters and those who are reading this comic that identify with Becky.

Hex Wives #6 is available now wherever comic books are sold.