Monstress Volume 1: Awakening

*review may contain mild spoilers* I loved absolutely everything about this graphic novel. To date, it is by far the best graphic novel I have ever read, and even surpasses my love for Saga. I am completely blown away, and will count down the days until Vol. 2 releases (June 6th, 2017). This story follows a seventeen year old girl named Maika, whose story starts out where she is being sold as a slave. The reader will immediately notice that Maika has a very strange tattoo of an eye on her chest, and she is missing an arm. Yet, it becomes very clear very early that Maika is much stronger than what she seems. Maika is struggling to hold in her monster, while also trying to get answers from her past. With the help of an adorable little half-fox and a poet cat, Maika is on a journey to discover herself, her past, and what's truly inside of her, all while she carries a very mysterious and sought after item. In this world there are five races: ➽Humans - Like you and me. ➽Ancients - Immortal, animal-like rulers with an immense amount of power. ➽Cats - Much like people, can speak and fight, but much more adorable. ➽Old Gods - Little to no knowledge of them. ➽Areanics - Half-breeds. Also in this world, there are factions at war: ➽The Federation - Humans, who just hate magic users and refuse to let them live and breed. These humans will take Arcanics and make them slaves to do whatever terrible things they wish. ➽Arcanics - Magic users, who are sort of hybrids of the Ancients. Also, two powerful courts, the Dawn Court and the Dusk Court, have risen up to defend against the Cumaea. ➽Cumaea - Witch-like people that use Arcanic's body parts to make Lillium. People in this world will use a drug like substance called Lillium for power, regeneration, and in some cases, resurrection. Between the war and the use of this magical substance, this world is also now aware of things much bigger than the Federation and Arcanics. This graphic novel is not only bigger than most bind-ups, but it has significantly more writing than most graphic novels, too! You receive a lot, and I do mean a lot, of information and very quickly. This really worked for me, because it became way more of an immersion, while also reading closer to a book. Yet, I can understand how this would be a different reading experience for some, so I felt the need to bring it up. The story is so brilliant and impactful. I can already tell I'm going to be thinking about this world for such a long time, because this is the type of story that just sticks with you, while festering in your heart. I truly love everything about this. The art was so magnificent and I found myself constantly just staring at some pages in disbelief that a human created it. This art also brought very many tears to my eyes very many times, constantly evoking so much pure emotion from me. On top of having an amazing story, it is the best art I've ever seen in a comic, ever. Trigger warnings for human trafficking, slavery, child brutality, and many other dark themes that are in the violence and gore vein. This is a dark story, and it doesn't shy away from that darkness or its brutality. I loved everything about this graphic novel: the story, the characters, the art, the representation, everything. I honestly cannot see any graphic work ever beating this. I am in awe and my thoughts probably aren't even coherent, but this is something unique and special. Please give this comic series a try if you haven't already. I swear to you with my entire soul, this is nothing short of a masterpiece. This is maybe even a once in a lifetime masterpiece. I never put graphic novels on my "best of the year" list, but I think this is the year I make an exception for Monstress.

Interesting story, beautiful art, and a wonderfully priced first paperback in the ongoing series Monstress. This book is incredibly eclectic, making it hard to attach it to any one genre, but to me that is a positive thing. Within the pages lies a bewildering blend of steampunk, art-deco architecture, manga, sci-fi, horror, and social allegory/metaphor. Most of all, Mostress is a very beautiful book. Sana Takeda's art is painstakingly detailed and most of the coloring is painted with watercolor, which adds tremendous depth and pulls the book up to a whole new level of technicality. Some of the negative reviews of this book said that is was "confusing" and the writing did not help the reader empathize with the characters. To that I would say this series definitely has many layers and can seem somewhat confusing at first; however, I can tell the purpose of this first book was mainly to introduce the ideas, characters, and set the stage for what is to come. The book starts with a lot of things unknown to the reader, but to me that allows more psychological depth for it encourages the reader to actually think and figure some things out for their self instead of the writer just giving them all the info which can result in way too much inner dialogue. There has been much discussion in books and television that people want less "hand holding" from the writer. We have all seen or read some things where the writer tells you everything, almost like an unwanted narrator that belittles our intelligence by assuming we could never figure out what is going on without some silly monologue to explain it to us. As quickly as this series became popular, I imagine it ongoing for a while. Even with whatever flaws people may point out, I think everything will fall together and the first installment of Monstress shows that there is some serious potential here. I am very interested to see where the next book will take us next. 5 stars for now.

Primeiro volume de uma história incrível, que conta com todas as páginas coloridas, ilustrações lindíssimas, personagens conflituosas e história envolvente. A construção de mundo é primorosa, original, com elementos de steampunk e de horror. Estou no sexto volume, e recomendo fortemente a leitura de todos: a série não perde vigor, e cada novo livro continua entregando qualidade.

Début assez indigeste (très nombreux personnages, monde difficile à appréhender avec les quelques indices et la méthode du in medias res) mais suite très agréable. Graphisme original et extrêmement beau, influencé par l'art nouveau. À ne pas mettre dans toutes les mains car contient de nombreux thème violents (torture, anthropophagie, viol...), ne vous laissez pas tromper par la couverture.

El estilo narrativo y la historialas nos muestran las raíces culturales de las autoras de este título que se acerca más los mangas que al comic americano. Para los fans del manga puede ser una buena forma de acercarse a títulos de comics que no seas de superhéroes.

This had high reviews on Goodreads and I was not deceived.The art is Japanese Manga like and the story line is written by an American.The combination was very good, you see.The world building is spot on and the action is satisfyingly gory. if you love comics and dark fantasy then you should go for it.I have already bought the second part.

LIU AND TAKEDA’S WORLD DREW ME IN IMMEDIATELY! From the moment I viewed the first page, I knew that this was going to be a comic not only of good visual quality, but also one containing a very good and complex story. Another thing I could also guarantee from that first look was that the dialogue and narration would be exceptional. Now, some people might say “But Flavia, the narration and dialogue ARE the story for a comic book, because that is the only text you see,” and while I do agree that yes, this is the only text you see, what I mean by story is the overall plot. For example, a story may be exceptionally good and well thought out, but if the narration and dialogue for and within the story are bland or terrible, readers will be unable to see the good story beyond that. TO PUT IT SIMPLY, I LIKED THE ART, PLOT, AND WRITING WITHIN THIS COMIC BOOK. The illustrations, while lacking a little saturation for my tastes (I like really colourful drawings and illustrations), but I understand why it is that they used such muted colours. The plot itself is not a very happy or heart-warming one, therefore it would be strange for the illustrations to be overly colourful. So, keeping in mind this comic’s mood and plot, the colours which they have selected are perfect. Also, I wanted to say just how much I loved that this comic contains some very diverse characters. There are a variety of skin tones, body shapes and sizes, and genders are also portrayed in unconventional ways at times (an example being a masculine woman). The plot is complex, and is also slow to reveal certain details. But that’s how I like it. There are many threads to this story, which intertwine in certain places, and remain hidden in others. By the end of volume 1, some questions are finally answered, but then a number of other questions take their place. This leaves the reader satisfied for the time being, but still wanting more. I also liked that this story contained some serious subject matter, some comical moments, as well as some parts which were incredibly disturbing and terrifying. Maybe I’m weird or masochistic for liking that third aspect of this story, but I like what I like. Now, as for the writing, there wasn’t too much or too little of it, which is good. I don’t like comics which either have not enough writing for you to understand what’s going on, or too much writing—to the point where you can barely see the illustrations past the immensity of the speech bubbles and narration boxes. The writing was also quite good. You could definitely get the different tones coming from each character who spoke, as well as the narrator. Liu is most definitely skilled as a writer and storyteller (and yes, I consider those two to be entirely separate things). NEEDLESS TO SAY, I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THE NEXT PART OF THIS STORY!