Category 8: A comic written or illustrated by a person of color
Monstress v.1 : Awakening
Published: July 19 2016
Page count: 235
Genres: fantasy, steampunk
Page count: 235
Genres: fantasy, steampunk
Date read: May 28, 2018
Number of times read: 1
Format: paperbackSource: Chapters/Indigo
Summary
Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers. Collects MONSTRESS #1-6...via Goodreads
Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers. Collects MONSTRESS #1-6...via Goodreads
Review
I want to start this review by commenting on how absolutely stunning the artwork is. It's incredibly gorgeous. It's an alternate history fantasy world with steampunk elements, and eldritchesque horrors; the art style is like if art deco and anime had a baby. It makes for an incredibly stunning visual story that really sucks you in. Even the horrific and gory parts still look striking because of Takeda's style. The story centres on Maika Halfwolf a badass amputee (who eventually gets a cyborg arm) who seems to be possessed by a god of some kind and it's given her unimaginably strong powers, that she can't control. In her party are a talking cat with two tails called Ren, and a young girl named Kippa who has fox ears and a fox tail. Maika's trying to uncover answers about her mysterious past which is a very typical plot that can be found in a lot of stories. It's Maika's possession that makes her a unique protagonist. The story itself is about a war between different factions and ultimately about the war between the humans and the old gods known as the archaics (Kippa is a Human/Archaic halfbreed).
It's a very unique take on a very simple story that we're all familiar with the structure of. I've never seen the chosen one trope tackled quite this way before and it's interesting. For a book that is very visual, there is a lot of gore and graphic torture in the book. I'm finding that I'm sketchy on a lot of the actual specifics of the story now though, so I think before I read the second volume I am going to have to give volume 1 a reread. It's definitely a book with a lot of reread potential because there is so much to see and so much to take in. I imagine that there's a lot of nuances I missed on my first read through.
I want to start this review by commenting on how absolutely stunning the artwork is. It's incredibly gorgeous. It's an alternate history fantasy world with steampunk elements, and eldritchesque horrors; the art style is like if art deco and anime had a baby. It makes for an incredibly stunning visual story that really sucks you in. Even the horrific and gory parts still look striking because of Takeda's style. The story centres on Maika Halfwolf a badass amputee (who eventually gets a cyborg arm) who seems to be possessed by a god of some kind and it's given her unimaginably strong powers, that she can't control. In her party are a talking cat with two tails called Ren, and a young girl named Kippa who has fox ears and a fox tail. Maika's trying to uncover answers about her mysterious past which is a very typical plot that can be found in a lot of stories. It's Maika's possession that makes her a unique protagonist. The story itself is about a war between different factions and ultimately about the war between the humans and the old gods known as the archaics (Kippa is a Human/Archaic halfbreed).
It's a very unique take on a very simple story that we're all familiar with the structure of. I've never seen the chosen one trope tackled quite this way before and it's interesting. For a book that is very visual, there is a lot of gore and graphic torture in the book. I'm finding that I'm sketchy on a lot of the actual specifics of the story now though, so I think before I read the second volume I am going to have to give volume 1 a reread. It's definitely a book with a lot of reread potential because there is so much to see and so much to take in. I imagine that there's a lot of nuances I missed on my first read through.
If you're interested in an east meets west style of graphic art and storytelling definitely check this series out. If you like bad add females representing and kicking ass then this series is definitely for you. If gore is not your thing at all though definitely stay away because there is no avoiding it in this book.
Overall Rating
3.5 bolts
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| 3.5 bolts |
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