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A review by njdarkish
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu
4.0
This was a very different experience than what I usually get from comics. For one, the art was much, much better than one typically sees, and it stayed consistently good throughout. The world was much more unique and fresh than a lot of comics or fantasy fiction in general that I come across. It was also nice to be treated as an intelligent reader who doesn't need their hand held-- the world is vivid and alive and doesn't slow down to explain itself to you. The main characters were interesting, particularly the heroine whose darkness literally cannot be held at bay.
I did question the cat characters, however. They seemed too light and silly in many ways to fit in with the otherwise grimdark world. They felt more like the obligatory small animal sidekicks you so often see in mediocre anime series rather than something that was organic to the world. I just felt like the writer or artist just has a thing for cats, not that their inclusion was actually right for the story.
Merged review:
This was a very different experience than what I usually get from comics. For one, the art was much, much better than one typically sees, and it stayed consistently good throughout. The world was much more unique and fresh than a lot of comics or fantasy fiction in general that I come across. It was also nice to be treated as an intelligent reader who doesn't need their hand held-- the world is vivid and alive and doesn't slow down to explain itself to you. The main characters were interesting, particularly the heroine whose darkness literally cannot be held at bay.
I did question the cat characters, however. They seemed too light and silly in many ways to fit in with the otherwise grimdark world. They felt more like the obligatory small animal sidekicks you so often see in mediocre anime series rather than something that was organic to the world. I just felt like the writer or artist just has a thing for cats, not that their inclusion was actually right for the story.
I did question the cat characters, however. They seemed too light and silly in many ways to fit in with the otherwise grimdark world. They felt more like the obligatory small animal sidekicks you so often see in mediocre anime series rather than something that was organic to the world. I just felt like the writer or artist just has a thing for cats, not that their inclusion was actually right for the story.
Merged review:
This was a very different experience than what I usually get from comics. For one, the art was much, much better than one typically sees, and it stayed consistently good throughout. The world was much more unique and fresh than a lot of comics or fantasy fiction in general that I come across. It was also nice to be treated as an intelligent reader who doesn't need their hand held-- the world is vivid and alive and doesn't slow down to explain itself to you. The main characters were interesting, particularly the heroine whose darkness literally cannot be held at bay.
I did question the cat characters, however. They seemed too light and silly in many ways to fit in with the otherwise grimdark world. They felt more like the obligatory small animal sidekicks you so often see in mediocre anime series rather than something that was organic to the world. I just felt like the writer or artist just has a thing for cats, not that their inclusion was actually right for the story.