Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening

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.