Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening
Ratings215
Average rating3.9
Wow, first experience with Image comics and I loved it - there were so many ways Monstress stood out to me in the graphic novel medium. Firstly, you get dropped into the middle of this rich pseudo-steampunk/ fantasy land, full of power struggles and tensions that feel reminiscent of conflicts like WWII and the Cold War. The worldbuilding was immense but gave you just enough context to carry you through the journey of Maika Halfwolf, with flashbacks and a strong antagonistic group. Secondly, the art was gorgeous, with slanted lines between panels and a remarkable sense of pace and scale that adds to the sense of danger. Thirdly, whilst the characters were the weakest points they are highly fascinating both visually and in their slowly-revealed backstories. Oh, and how refreshing was an all-female cast, writing team and perspective? Am keen to continue this heavy story.
I loved how dark and scary this graphic novel was, though I found the story a bit hard to follow. A common problem that I have is forgetting characters names so I wasn't exactly sure what was going on or who was who all the time, but I am interested to read more. The art style was great, and I loved the asides from the cat professor explaining the backstory to me!
I hate that comic books have so many naked minors in it. Also just the slavers, ableism, homophobia that we are immediately thrown into just told me it's not for me like I'm tired of having to hear/deal with that shit to get to what's apparently a feminist story
This is worth just picking up and looking at this artwork! It's got some amazing and elegant details that have a lot of effort put into every page and is a masterpiece. This art style is truly perfect for the magical and dark world set around it and really sets up a nice tone. The world build is really interesting with a matriarchy of witches, an interesting history of the world, and a strong female leading character who is learning more about herself and getting leverage with a demon that lives within. Pretty great story that kept me hooked enough. ~Ashley
Merged review:
This is worth just picking up and looking at this artwork! It's got some amazing and elegant details that have a lot of effort put into every page and is a masterpiece. This art style is truly perfect for the magical and dark world set around it and really sets up a nice tone. The world build is really interesting with a matriarchy of witches, an interesting history of the world, and a strong female leading character who is learning more about herself and getting leverage with a demon that lives within. Pretty great story that kept me hooked enough. ~Ashley
The world of Monstress is set in an alternate Asia around the 1920's, taking place in a matriarchal steampunk society. If I had to compare it to other fantasy works, I'd say it's a mix of Legend of Korra and Shadow of the Colossus.
Also, the worldbuilding is crazy good. You don't see much worldbuilding like this in comics (not that I've read nearly enough comics to say for sure). There's a bit of a steep learning curve at first as you get used to the world, but it's worth it. However, it's not for the faint of heart, exploring topics like cannibalism, lynchings, and child slavery.
One of the interesting things about Monstress is that its cast is almost exclusively female. This builds into the world's matriarchal society and explores one of the series' central themes: the friendship between women.
There's a broad cast of characters, though the main focus is Maika Halfwolf, an Arcanic who can pass for human. She was a prominent figure in the devastating war between Arcanics and Cumea, but now she just wants to learn what happened to her mother. Vengeance would be nice, too.
Supporting Maika on her journey is another Arcanic, Kippa. She's an adorable and fiercely loyal half-girl, half-fox who is held prisoner by the Cumea along with Maika. It's easy to identify with her because she starts out knowing about as much as we do about what's going on.
The real hero of the main trio is Master Ren. Master Ren dabbles in assassination, necromancy, sarcasm, and quoting poetry. Oh, and he's a cat. With two tails. If you liked Mogget from Garth Nix's Abhorsen series, you're gonna love Ren.
The events of the main story kick off years after a disastrous battle between the Arcanics, magical creatures who sometimes look human, and Cumea, an order of sorceresses who derive their power from consuming Arcanics. Did I mention the story is a little dark?
Our fearless heroine, Maika Halfwolf, is determined to learn the truth about her dead mother and avenge her if needed. She's not afraid to kill those who stand in her way, and can be more than a little monstrous at times. The story opens Maika and Kippa being sold into slavery to the witches at the Cumea, with flashbacks providing some background about how Maika got into her current situation.
Things quickly escalate, both in the action and mystery. You quickly learn that Maika is not all that she appears, and might be hiding a dark secret.
It's a little hard to judge a graphic novel for it's prose, so I'll stick to pacing.
Expect to be confused at times. Not everything makes sense at first, but you probably won't ever be totally lost and wondering what the hell just happened. Each of the six comic issues in this volume is followed by a lecture by the esteemed Professor Tam Tam, the most knowledgeable feline you're likely to see illustrated. I thought this was a nice way to avoid info dumps but still fill you in on things you wouldn't be able to pick up on otherwise.
I'm not an experienced comic reader, so I can sometimes get confused about the order in which panels should be read. Thankfully, Monstress is really clear about this. I always knew which panel to read next without thinking about it.
Holy shitballs the art is fantastic. Co-creator and artist Sana Takeda does an incredible job. Every time I've seen Monstress discussed, people mention how amazing the art is. Don't believe me? Just look at how people are drawn:
The cities are darkly beautiful as well:
If you like amazing visuals, extensive worldbuilding, dark fantasy, or steampunk, you need to read this. It's a low investment (about half the price of graphic novels of similar length), and worth every copper.
However, the story is dark. People die and it isn't always pretty. The amazing art can sometimes be bloody (though typically not gruesome), and occasionally downright creepy. This is NOT a story where good triumphs over evil, mostly because things like good and evil aren't black and white. Since this is the start of what will likely be a story of epic proportions, it feels like this volume ends right when things start getting really great.
Exquisite world-building; luscious, detailed art in every panel; a cast of monstrous characters; an engaging, mysterious plot. I'm so ready for more.
I don't read a lot of graphic novels these days, so when I'm thinking about my expectations for this sort of format, I'm really running on memories from when I actively collected superhero comics (Marvel, primarily) back in middle school and high school.
This is not that.
First, the art in this book is really nice. The variation between finely rendered areas of focus and impressionistic backgrounds and action is really delightful. Overall, it's lush and creative. It's beautiful unlike so many graphic novels and comics I've tried to read over the years.
The story is really different. It's a blend between eastern mythology, anime forms, and western epic fantasy tropes. Creative and intriguing.
But I did find it a little on the slow side. This is where it may be that my own expectations ruined the experience. It's hard for me to remember that when you're reading comics issue by issue, the pacing is perceived to be very, very different. Same with watching an anime series like, say, DragonballZ. If you binge – or read the comic as an omnibus like I did with this one, it sort of staggers along and the pacing is strange.
But overall, a really great read. I may pick up subsequent volumes later.
I found this too difficult to follow. I don't think the artwork, or the panel scene choices helped to make this a coherent plot
Art is beautiful, but plot is convoluted, horrifying and hard to follow. Not for me.
Though I might read the next volume just for the cats.
Maybe it's because I read it in fits and starts, but I found it difficult to follow the story. The art is great, and I've got the second book lined up already, hoping to read it with more focus.
Very intriguing mix - the story telling is brisk, good characterization, I like the world as built so far, and then the art - always good but contrast between moments that have confident line work with true weight to figures and the moments that feel confused, unsure as if the artist couldn't decide who the audience was - young adults or an older group. Didn't take me out of the story and probably being a bit picky - that is my only gripe and have had this with many other artists. I recommend this book for sure.
Wow, this took me forever to read. I liked a lot of it (the art, some of the characters, overall atmosphere) but I had some trouble following what was happening. Maybe one day I'll read it again and it'll click.
Maika is a badass heroine, who is fighting her own inner monster to try and find the truth about her past. She doesn't trust anyone, even herself and would do absolutely anything to get her answers and reunite with her only friend Tuya.
There are lots of side characters including humans, witches, monsters, half breeds and cats, but my favorite was definitely Kippa - a cute little arcana child, who is super afraid of Maika and her inner monster but still stays loyal and decides to fight. I just wanted to keep her safe
4.5/5 stars
I loved it. The art was beautiful at times and completely gruesome in others. It was kind of confusing at times because while we see the mc take important actions we're also being thrown important information in terms of world building. I had to actually go back and read it a second time in order to see what I had missed through my first read. I will continue to read the next volume.
Merged review:
4.5/5 stars
I loved it. The art was beautiful at times and completely gruesome in others. It was kind of confusing at times because while we see the mc take important actions we're also being thrown important information in terms of world building. I had to actually go back and read it a second time in order to see what I had missed through my first read. I will continue to read the next volume.
Merged review:
4.5/5 stars
I loved it. The art was beautiful at times and completely gruesome in others. It was kind of confusing at times because while we see the mc take important actions we're also being thrown important information in terms of world building. I had to actually go back and read it a second time in order to see what I had missed through my first read. I will continue to read the next volume.
Wow, pretty amazing. The illustrations, the story, the action, the world building, I just love it.
Mi único pero es que para ser el 1er libro te quedas bastante perdida entendí algunas cosas pero necesito más info.
La prota se me pareció bastante a Mia Corvere de Jay Kristoff, incluso los nombres y poderes son similares
I am loving this story and can't wait to read more. The artwork is stunning. I have never seen black on black artwork like some of the pages in this book. There are several full page prints where the image is just a little darker black than the background. I could look at these images all day and keep seeing more details.
Merged review:
I am loving this story and can't wait to read more. The artwork is stunning. I have never seen black on black artwork like some of the pages in this book. There are several full page prints where the image is just a little darker black than the background. I could look at these images all day and keep seeing more details.