Monstress #4 Review

Written by: Marjorie Liu

Art by: Sana Takeda

Publisher: Image Comics

Monstress #4 continues what I have loved about this series from the start, while offering some needed exposition as well. When learning about new creatures, species, battling factions, magical serums, and ancient wars, sometimes things can get confusing—though Liu and Takeda’s ambition should not be blamed, but applauded. Monstress #4  does a commendable job of explaining what is driving most of our main characters, and even some new characters as well, but it  is the reader’s responsibility to remember what has happened month to month in this wide-reaching story. Monstress #4 is another great installment of the story, but it might also be the quintessential example of a comic which reads better in trade form. This is not a criticism of the book itself, but rather a reminder that this comic expects you to be paying attention, and the payoff is greater for doing so.

The eight arcanic children who survived the mysterious blast are at the center of many mysteries in Monstress, and it’s a safe bet that our protagonist is at the heart of that mystery, whether she wanted to be or not. What Liu and Takeda do an amazing job of is exploring the mystery of the demon/monster/ghost in a way that is both menacing and, somehow, sympathetic. This issue, for example, has the “monster” talking directly to Maika about her “risible morality” and then consuming a person who was already dying. These hard compromises and inner monologue moments give the reader an inner glimpse into Maika’s mind that will continue to become

Catch!

more fractured and gruesome as this story continues. Maika has shown her strength and willingness to do anything to find answers about her mother, but literally and figuratively, she is discovering that her steadfastness in her mission may be eating her alive.

In short, I love this book: the detailed and gorgeous world that Takeda is clearly having a ball drawing each month, the strong and frightening females who all seem to be harboring bloody pasts that no one seems to want to talk about, and the monster, of course. That many-eyed monster who has taken up residence in Maika and won’t be letting go anytime soon. Then again, with enemies like the Cumaean, and the newest character introduced on the last page of this issue (Who is the Dusk Court? What is a Night Cutter? So cool!), I bet Maika and her monster will be thick as thieves before long. As a reader, I wouldn’t have it any other way.