Despite the title, Monstress isn’t a straight-forward monster movie. In fact, per the remit of this particular column, it’s not even strictly a horror title, instead sitting firmly in the realm of steampunk fantasy. But thanks to the concept of Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s monster hit Image Comics series, we can definitely go to bat for why this is the perfect Halloween read to shake things up between the blood and scares.
First introduced in 2013, the book is set in a matriarchy, where a young girl named Maika Halfwolf shares a psychic link with a monster. There’s a deep mythology beyond that, including an ongoing war between magical creatures called Arcanics, and humans — called the Federation — who are led by sorceresses who eat the Arcanics for power. And Maika, as someone who can pass for human, is in prime position to get revenge on the Federation for killing her mother.
Oh, also after having her arm cut off, a monster named Zinn emerges from it and takes over her body and mind. So, that’s happening.
That’s where the story starts, and over 60 plus issues as of this writing it’s spun off into wild and unexpected directions. Alongside Liu’s expert plotting, Takeda’s iconic designs provide detailed and clean looks at everything from multiple monsters to the intricate steampunk setting. Also of note, this is adult fantasy, with all that implies — so kids? Get out of here!
Alongside being a perennial bestseller, Monstress has also won seven Eisner Awards, the highest honor in the comic book industry, and four Hugo Awards. If you’re looking for where to start, the first volume collects the first six issues — though if you want to dive right into the world of Monstress, check out the recently released Compendium, which collects the first 48 issues and two issues of Monstress: Talk-Stories, which relates other stories from the world of the book.
It’s spooky season, and you know what that means: time to curl up with a comic book or graphic novel that will scare your socks off. With that in mind, we’re posting a new horror book to check out every day of October, for our 31 Days Of Halloween Comics. Awoooo! Looking for the rest of our picks? Check them out on the Halloween tag.
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