Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening

Wow, first experience with Image comics and I loved it - there were so many ways Monstress stood out to me in the graphic novel medium. Firstly, you get dropped into the middle of this rich pseudo-steampunk/ fantasy land, full of power struggles and tensions that feel reminiscent of conflicts like WWII and the Cold War. The worldbuilding was immense but gave you just enough context to carry you through the journey of Maika Halfwolf, with flashbacks and a strong antagonistic group. Secondly, the art was gorgeous, with slanted lines between panels and a remarkable sense of pace and scale that adds to the sense of danger. Thirdly, whilst the characters were the weakest points they are highly fascinating both visually and in their slowly-revealed backstories. Oh, and how refreshing was an all-female cast, writing team and perspective? Am keen to continue this heavy story.

Some amazingly gorgeous artwork here, but what the hell was going on?

That question applies from the most literal (frequently throughout, I could tell that an action scene was being depicted, but not what was happening, where people were in relation to each other, who was hitting whom with what, or what the results were)

. . . to the individual (who are these people? what is their relationship with each other? who is that in that mask? who is that in that other mask? is this person literally transforming into a monster or is this a metaphorical depiction of their insanity? Both maybe? Is Tuya her sister? lover? friend? How are all these witches and nuns interrelated? Are there witch-nuns? Wait, now there's a shadow council or something, literally descending from the sky like a mechanical deity in a Greek play?”)

. . . to the meta (do they intend to start us in medias res and fill in information as we go, and they're just really bad at it? Did I literally miss some kind of prequel? Oh, great, here's an clunky infodump accompanied by drawings of cats - that doesn't make it any less yawn-inducing.)

It basically seems like they wanted to reveal an incredibly complex universe and an intricately related web of characters spanning generations, and tried to do it in one comic book instead of the trilogy of novels that might have covered the needed information.

The artwork is absolutely stunning! I find that fantasy graphic novels really aren't my thing because they're so confusing and it takes so long for me to adapt to the world and understand what's happening. However, I'm going to try to keep going with this one because of the art and little Kippa! Hopefully the next volume and a reread of this one will clear things up.

Maika is a badass heroine, who is fighting her own inner monster to try and find the truth about her past. She doesn't trust anyone, even herself and would do absolutely anything to get her answers and reunite with her only friend Tuya.

There are lots of side characters including humans, witches, monsters, half breeds and cats, but my favorite was definitely Kippa - a cute little arcana child, who is super afraid of Maika and her inner monster but still stays loyal and decides to fight. I just wanted to keep her safe

I don't read a lot of graphic novels these days, so when I'm thinking about my expectations for this sort of format, I'm really running on memories from when I actively collected superhero comics (Marvel, primarily) back in middle school and high school.

This is not that.

First, the art in this book is really nice. The variation between finely rendered areas of focus and impressionistic backgrounds and action is really delightful. Overall, it's lush and creative. It's beautiful unlike so many graphic novels and comics I've tried to read over the years.

The story is really different. It's a blend between eastern mythology, anime forms, and western epic fantasy tropes. Creative and intriguing.

But I did find it a little on the slow side. This is where it may be that my own expectations ruined the experience. It's hard for me to remember that when you're reading comics issue by issue, the pacing is perceived to be very, very different. Same with watching an anime series like, say, DragonballZ. If you binge – or read the comic as an omnibus like I did with this one, it sort of staggers along and the pacing is strange.

But overall, a really great read. I may pick up subsequent volumes later.

Very intriguing mix - the story telling is brisk, good characterization, I like the world as built so far, and then the art - always good but contrast between moments that have confident line work with true weight to figures and the moments that feel confused, unsure as if the artist couldn't decide who the audience was - young adults or an older group. Didn't take me out of the story and probably being a bit picky - that is my only gripe and have had this with many other artists. I recommend this book for sure.

2017 Edgar Award for Best Graphic Book! My 1st Award winning book for the month of Feb/19. Honestly the graphics were amazing, it was the story line I had trouble with. Always do with Fantasy and newer SF books however that is me, not the author. I still gave it a 5 anyway! I picked up a used (Like New) copy at Amazon and and was going to swap it at Paperback book swap on the internet but I may keep this. It is about 200 pages 81/2 x 11! If you like Fantasy get this book!! David N.