Good morning all,
Today’s topic was changed at the last minute. Originally, this post was going to discuss the entire run of a certain size-centered manga, but that article needs a lot more work before it’s ready to publish. Additionally, I’ve been busy researching an upcoming video on the 1958 classic “Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman.” So, instead of manga let’s take a look at Muscle Fan’s “The Strong Shall Survive” instead.
Of note, this comic was suggested by blog reader Ivan in late November of last year. Due to Ivan’s recommendation, this was already on the list of upcoming reviews, but was bumped up to an earlier date when it became clear that the manga post needed more time.
Previously, There She Grows covered The Strong Shall Survive’s first to fifth issue. (NOTE: Click here to read that post.) Artist r2roh and writer Rolling Thunder have been on this book since the beginning. It’s nice to have consistency and therefore hopefully these two will stick with this series for the duration.
The main selling point is the gorgeous art from r2roh. That’s not to say that the accompanying story was “bad” per se. Yet, not much happened. There was no sex and not much changed from issues 5 to 7. For instance, the ending of issue 5 was a “cliffhanger” (the word is put in quotes because the outcome was never truly in doubt) concerning whether muscular protagonist Sasha was going to live or not. Far be it for me to spoil the result, but a quick look at the covers of issue 6 (at the very top) and 7 (below) might tell folks whether or not Sasha survived 😉
There wasn’t much drama or tension. There could have been, the writer could have killed off the protagonist and thrown everything into question. Maybe Fayre would become the new hulking woman stalking the post-apocalyptic landscape and righting wrongs 😎 Sasha didn’t even have to “die” permanently, but could have fallen into a near-death state for an issue or two during which the final outcome would be up in the air.
To be fair, there was an interesting development when Sasha went on a brief growth-induced rampage during which she inadvertently hurt Fayre. That event could add a layer of complexity to the ongoing narrative. Instead, of growth being nothing but a positive this accident meant that Sasha might consider and carefully control her transformations in the future for fear of rampaging and injuring someone who she cares about. That added a bit of flavor to the mix and was great.
However, potential plot holes still remain. For example, the glowing substance which transformed Sasha also melted a branch and a wolf-like beast. Yet, it serves as a beneficial power-up to Sasha.
Why is that? How does the radioactive waste help her, but dissolve everything else? Is there something unique about Sasha? That’s a glaring question which will maybe get an answer eventually.
There was also a funny bit which I’m not sure was intentional. When confronted by an aggressive archer, Sasha asks “What? You really think that’s going to hurt me?” to which the person gives an answer by letting an arrow go which penetrates Sasha’s chest, draws blood, and makes her exclaim “Ah! Hey!” So, to recap, the archer did in fact think that she could hurt Sasha and proved that her assessment was indeed correct by clearly injuring Sasha and causing pain. It was like one person saying “Do you think you can push me over?” and as a reply the other person says nothing, but proves their capability by pushing them over. Although Sasha, of course, was victorious in the end.
Bottom line, there was plenty of growth plus amazing feats of unbridled feminine strength in these two issues. All in all, I’m on board and recommend The Strong Shall Survive. Furthermore, issue 8 is scheduled for release in March 2022. There She Grows will circle back toward the end of this year to review that installment and any other later additions.
That’s it for now folks. Thursday’s post will switch gears to a different publisher and take a look at an illustrated story from BotComics. Until then, keep growing!
This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.
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There She Grows 