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Graphic Novel Review: Monstress, Volume 4 by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda

Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda

Image Comics, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1534313361

Available: Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

 

Maika Halfwolf and Corvin D’Oro of the Dusk Court travel in search of the young Arcanic Kippa, who was kidnapped at the end of the third volume. Meanwhile, a forced marriage between the Dawn and Dusk Courts is being conducted, with Maika’s childhood friend Tuya marrying  Moriko Halfwolf’s ruthless twin sister and Maika’s aunt.

During their search, Maika and Corvin are abducted by Yvette Lo Lim and a mysterious man bearing the same eye symbol on his chest as Maika’s,  claiming to be her father. They are members of the newly formed Blood Court, a group led by Maika’s father, who is also known as the Lord Doctor. Maika wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings, with a prosthetic arm the Lord Doctor attached to Maika without Maika’s consent. He and the rest of the Blood Court try to convince Maika to join their cause. The Lord Doctor offers to tell her more about her childhood, as well as about Zinn, the Monstrum sharing Maika’s body, and his experience as Zinn’s former host. However, after learning of his terrible experimentations and the cannibal murders he committed that earned him the nickname “The Ghoul Killer”, she isn’t sure that she wants the answers she has been searching for after all.

Meanwhile, Kippa escapes her captors and discovers some of her own past. Her own Arcanic abilities are emerging. When she jumps into a pit running away from the abductors who are taking her to the Lord Doctor, she comes face to face with creatures that emerge from the shadows. Before they can attack her, a Dracul that resembles a giant three-eyed dragon stops them, recognizing her abilities and has conversation with Kippa about loss, slavery, and of the nature of the Monstrum.

Volume 4 collects issues 19 through 24.

Monstress is one of the few comics where I collect individual issues, and one where I find something new when I have gone back to revisit the series. The story is deep and intriguing, and it is easy to miss something in the first reading. Liu is a great storyteller, and this is one of the most intricate plots in a comic series I have ever read. Takeda’s intricate artwork is gorgeous, with character designs and creatures that are both beautiful and terrifying. There are plenty of reasons why Monstress won multiple Eisner Awards and nominated for this year’s Stoker Award Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel category.

Contains: forced marriage, sexual content

Highly recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on April 18, 2020 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Bone Parish, Volume 2 by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Jonas Scharf

Bone Parish, Volume 2 by Cullen Bunn, illustrated by Jonas Scharf

BOOM! Studios, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1684154258

Available: Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

 

Bone Parish, Volume 2 follows the Winters family, a New Orleans crime family that created a hallucinogenic drug made from the ashes of the dead. Anyone who takes the drug, called “The Ash”, lives the memories of the deceased. The second volume opens with Grace Winters and the rest of the family attending the funeral of Wade Winters, the youngest sibling, who was killed by a rival cartel. After the funeral, Grace approaches a shadowy figure in attendance who did not approach the other mourners. He is not unfamiliar to her. After all, Andre is her deceased husband. She used the last of her late husband’s ashes for him to be able to attend his son’s funeral.

Throughout the story, Grace starts seeing herself take on Andre’s physical traits, such as seeing his reflection in a mirror where her own should be, and her eyes begin to take on the eerie purple glow that his did when he appeared to her. Her own transformation isn’t the only one occurring with the use of Ash. Other cartels are employing their own people to attempt creating their own strains of the drug, but the results are not the same as the Winters’ product. The “test cases”, typically any drug addict they pick up off the street, are attacked by the memories of the dead who want to go on living. The physical side effects the users experience can only be described as Cronenbergian. While all of this is occurring, Wade’s death has created new rifts. Grace pushes daughter Brigitte to keep creating “The Ash”, especially considering other drug families are trying to create their own strains. Brae constantly berates Grace, Brigitte, and Leon about Wade’s death, the latter of whom he believes is at fault, and about the family business. He is less than prudent and levelheaded when he meets a mysterious woman painted with a Día de Muertos skull, and gets in bed with the enemy, as well as hiring a biker gang for personal protection. Leon, despite his older brother’s tirades and everything else in play that is picking apart already tenuous familial bonds, still believes his late father’s words, that family is the only thing that matters. The question remains, just how much strain can those bonds handle before they are torn apart?

As with the first volume of this series, I am not surprised that Bone Parish, Volume 2 has been nominated for a Stoker Award. Bunn has become one of my favourite writers in the horror genre. He weaves a good yarn, and the artists who are paired with him create fantastic visuals. Scharf’s artwork adds significantly to Bunn’s story. Highly recommended.

Contains: body horror, drug use, gore, murder, sexual content

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Editor’s note: Bone Parish, Volume 2 is a nominee on the final ballot for this year’s Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

Posted on April 18, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: The Twisted Book of Shadows edited by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore

The Twisted Book of Shadows edited by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore

Twisted Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1949140156

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

Christopher Golden and James A. Moore, inspired to create a diverse and varied horror anthology, teamed up with Haverhill House’s Twisted Publishing imprint to create a collection that did not include the heavy hitters of horror. They wanted to highlight stories by new authors, and give as many authors as possible a fair chance. They also wanted to be able to pay the authors more than a pittance. To that end, the editors created a GoFundMe crowdfunding project in October 2016, asked for submissions, and required a blind submission process. Out of the 700 stories they received, 19 were selected, also by a unique and diverse editorial committee, for the anthology. I noticed that ten, over half, of the stories are written by women.

In Melissa Swensen’s “The Pale Mouth”, the world must remain vigilant in constant lighting, and no shadow may be permitted indoors or out. Layla, as the Primary of her household, has responsibilities in taking care of the home. Every lightbulb is monitored and has a life counter. If any light is found to be out or defective, it is her fault. But the darkness is so tempting.

“Cake” by M.M. De Voe tells the story of a frazzled mother in second-person perspective. You can’t seem to get your spouse to help keep an eye on the children, and your beautiful toddler daughter has a knack for obtaining sharp objects. Surely, your two sons are to blame. Who could accuse that perfect blonde child who can’t even reach the counter of doing such a thing as getting the butcher knife, or getting a hold of the sharp cleaver, or locking the front door with you on the other side?

Eóin Murphy’s “The Birthing Pool” gives us a tale of Lovecraftian folk horror. A couple is expecting their firstborn child. Jim takes Sarah to the small fishing community of Danog to see his Aunt Sylvia for her final birth class. What happens is beyond Sarah’s comprehension. A town of cultists, ready to sacrifice their own firstborns at the birthing pool, is also ready to welcome Sarah’s sacrifice. However, Sarah isn’t one to back down, and Jim certainly deserves his comeuppance.

I have a soft spot for stories that include Alaska as a setting since it is my home state. In “Midnight Sun” by Andrew Bourelle, Alginak is the last of his people. Oil pipeline construction are destroying the land. He always seems to run into the same camp of white construction workers who don’t stop at the destruction of land, but also in killing the local wildlife, some of which he has befriended. Bourelle’s rich use of the Alaskan landscape is superb, and Alginak’s story is intense.

P.D. Cacek’s “Mirror, Mirror” centers on a mother’s obsession with watching over her terminally ill baby and her husband’s concern for her wellbeing. When he is finally able to convince her to rest, he makes a series of terrible mistakes.

That’s only a handful of the great stories in this anthology. I would like to see more collections curated in such a way where lesser known writers have the opportunity to publish their work. There are so many new voices, at least to me, in this volume that I want to continue reading. I do hope they all continue their craft. I’m glad to see that this has been nominated for a Stoker Award.

Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: The Twisted Book of Shadows  is a nominee on the final ballot of this year’s Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievment in an Anthology.

Posted on April 18, 2020 by , Reply
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