‘Monstress, Volume One: Awakening’ – Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda (Image)



Not only am I the world’s worst person at not being able to leave a comic shop until I’ve bought something (anything!) but I am also the world’s worst person at bringing comic books home and then just leaving them on the shelf for however long it takes me to get round to reading them. Sometimes this can take a couple of years…

‘Monstress Volume One’ is one of those comic books that I tend to buy on the spur of the moment, half way out of the door and with a sneaking feeling that I need to buy something otherwise I’ll have nothing to read on the way home. It also helped that it was part of the promotion that Image do where the first trade of a series is priced cheaply to get you into the series itself. And then, because I’m contrary, I played on my phone (on the way home) and forgot all about ‘Monstress’, until now…
One of the reasons that I’m blogging again is to stir myself to read the books I have that are currently serving as ‘shelf decoration’ (which is the worst thing for a book…) so it was definitely the right time to pick ‘Monstress’ up and see what I had actually bought all that time ago. Turns out that I’d only gone and bought the start of a series where I have to buy the rest of the trades, all the way until the end. It’s that good…

Set in an alternate world of art deco beauty and steampunk horror, ‘Monstress’ tells the epic story of Maika Halfwolf, a teenage survivor of a cataclysmic war between humans and their hated enemies, the Arcanics. In the face of oppression and terrible danger, Maika is both hunter and hunted, searching for answers about her mysterious past as those who seek to use her remain just one step behind… and all the while, the monster within begins to awaken…

I was just blown away by how good ‘Monstress’ is and I can’t wait to get all caught up and find out where Maika Halfwolf’s story takes her; this was me as I finished the last couple of pages of the book, it’s just that good.

I’m usually a ‘story first, artwork second’ kind of chap, with comic books, but Sana Takeda’s artwork reached my eyeballs first so that’s where I’m headed to start off with. Maika’s guarded expressions draw you into her story and before you know it, you’re also being introduced to the lush and intricately detailed ‘Known World’, a world that has enough of our world in it to make it accessible but alien enough, at the same time, to make your eyes search out all that extra detail. If there wasn’t a story to go with it, I would still be more than happy to just sit and get lost in the pictures for a while. I’m looking forward to more of the same in future volumes, definitely.

Good though it is, ‘Monstress’ isn’t just about the art; there’s a compelling tale to be found in these pages, just slowly beginning to spread its wings and offering some tantalising glimpses of what is to come in the future. The conflicts we can already see in Maiko’s character make reading this book gorgeously uncertain, we never know quite how she will react (or be forced into reacting?) to any situation and that just makes the plot all the more readable and keeps it flowing in the right direction. She’s a spiky character already but you can see why and empathise with it; Maiko has been through a lot already and that seems to be only the start of it.
Maiko’s story is the main focus here but the undercurrent rumblings of politics and looming war add some spice to the main plot and bode well for future volumes. I’m looking forward to seeing how the main plot and supporting plotlines continue to feed into (and off) each other and push things forwards.

It has been so long since I’ve been this excited about a series but I feel like I’ve made a real friend in ‘Monstress’. I’ll bet you’re reading it already but if you aren’t then you should.

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