'Monstress Volume 2: The Blood' – Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda (Image)

Where does the time go? It only feels like last week that I read and reviewed Volume One of 'Monstress' but a sneaky look on the blog told me that I did it way back in February. So much has happened since then...

Anyway, you know by now that I really enjoyed Volume One and was keen to read the rest of the series. You'll also know by now that this blog is full of good intentions that are rarely followed up in good time. So... My copy of Volume Two has been languishing on one of my shelves for just over a month. When my broadband died yesterday though (killing off all hope of getting any work done) I thought I'd pick it up and have a read while I was waiting for EE to pick up the phone and sort me out. EE were really good by the way but that has absolutely nothing to do with this book...

So lets have a post about 'Monstress Volume Two' then...

Maika Halfwolf is on the run from a coalition of forces determined to control or destroy the powerful Monstrum that lives beneath her skin. But Maika still has a mission of her own: to discover the secrets of her late mother, Moriko.
In this second volume of Monstress, collecting issues 7-12, Maika's quest takes her to the pirate-controlled city of Thyria and across the sea to the mysterious Isle of Bones. It is a journey that will force Maika to reevaluate her past, present, and future, and contemplate whether there's anyone, or anything, she can truly trust--including her own body.

'To quote the poets... It is possible to drown in information and die for lack of wisdom.'

I came across this line, towards the end of the book, and it is the best way of describing how I feel about the artwork in 'Monstress' (in a good way). At the risk of repeating myself from my last review, Sana Takeda's art is just gorgeous. It's lush and sumptuous and all the other good words that I want to use but won't because I don't want this review to turn into a long list of words. The bottom line is that we are all incredibly spoilt to have art like this in a comic book and it's so tempting to just sit there and just drink it in. And there's the thing, you could literally drown in the art and not have a clue what's going on in the actual story... That's not a slight on the art, not at all, but it's easily done if you're not careful. Just bear it in mind ;o)

It's great though to have a comic where the art is just as much a part of the story as the plot; I dont often see a book that has that perfect balance (the plot usually wins).

The plot itself is very much a slowburner where it's very clear that you won't be seeing any answers, to your question, for several volumes yet. Liu offsets this though with smaller subplots springing up and being resolved in fairly short order (I like the rifthounds...). You also get a real sense of worldbuilding happening in every plot strand that is left hanging for now. This isn't just about telling a story, Liu has so much more to tell us and we're only just at the start of it. I don't mind it actually, on the strength of what I've seen so far I think we're in for a treat.

So basically then, more questions than answers but we also get more of an insight into why Maika is the way she is. Maika is a difficult character to like but but that understanding helped me to get behind her and gives me another reason to keep reading. And I will keep reading, even at this early stage it's clear that the stakes are high in a lot of areas and I want to be there to see how it all ties together and works out for everyone.

'Monstress Volume 2' is another foundation that the story itself will eventually rest on but there is so much going on, in the meantime, for the likes of you and I to get lost in. These first two volumes have set high standards for the rest of the series but right now, I'd have to say that I'd bet money on future volumes maintaining that standard, I think 'Monstress' is going to become something special.