Number 98 - Monstress Volume 1 - Liu & Takeda

 

Another randomly chosen graphic novel for a cheat read - although this was 200 pages, making it one of the two longest graphic novels I currently own. 

As with a lot of the graphic novels I've chosen randomly from Forbidden Planet this year - I chose it because it was cheap and the artwork looked really rather special.

There's a lot to unpack in this book.  Marjorie Liu on writing duties is building a whole new world of magic mixed with science and Lovecraftian horrors from the dawn of time.

Also throw in a war between half breed humans and full bloods, a race of superbeings and have plot points described by talking cats with too many tails, and you run the risk of overegging the pudding.

However, Liu, assisted by Takeda's stunning artwork, manages to never overstep the mark.  This never feels silly and the next bit of weirdness feels earned and logical in the framework of the story.

Our central character - Maika Halfwolf - is everything you want from a questing heroine.  She's more than capable of looking after herself in a fight, has magical powers which occasionally manifest and a mysterious past. She's brave and loyal to her friends, and dedicated to avenging her mother's death in unexplained (so far) circumstances. She is also host to a malicious demon from prehistory which has issues with not killing everyone near her. That's the least of her problems though.

There's a lot of worldbuilding going on.  The first issue was 70 pages long in order to set up all the various alliances and feuds. This is epic fantasy on the scale of A Song of Ice and Fire. It's won several awards and it's very easy to understand why. 

There are some obvious influences to the story. But they're incorporated naturally enough so they don't interfere with the storytelling. It's virtually impossible to write something 100% original anymore in any case. This still feels fresh.  It's what you do with the ingredients that makes it work.  The story is strong enough in its own right that it doesn't feel derivative.

I've always said it's better to create new strong female characters than it is to change the sex of existing male characters and this is a beautifully done example. It covers important themes of sexism and racism without being in your face about it. 

I'm wishing I'd got into graphic novels a lot sooner.  With material of this quality that I've been missing out on through pure ignorance and dismissal of the form, I've got a lot of catching up to do.