[ARC REVIEW] Monstress: Awakening Volume 1 (Part 2) by Marjorie Liu

Title:  Monstress:  Awakening Volume 1 Part 2

Author:  Marjorie Liu

Artist: Sana Takeda

Genre:  Adventure / Steampunk / Fantasy / Drama

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  9/13/2016

Publisher: Image Comics

Series: Monstress Issue #2

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Image Comics for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Introduction:

 

After reading the first issue of Marjorie Liu’s breakthrough comic book, “Monstress,” I was clambering for more of this series and I finally got the chance to read the second issue of this series and man was I really blown away by this second issue!

What is this story about?

In this issue, Maika had just escaped from the witches’ stronghold and even though she wanted to go there to find out more about herself and her mother, she leaves the stronghold with even more questions on her mind about her mother and about the nature of her powers.  Meanwhile, the Warlord starts making her move and she has her eyes set on capturing Maika for murdering one of the head witches at the stronghold!

What I loved about this story:

Marjorie Liu’s writing: Marjorie Liu’s writing is as beautiful as ever as we actually get to see the repercussions that Maika faces after her stint at the witches’ stronghold.  It was interesting seeing Maika feel so much remorse for her actions in transforming into a monster when she attacked Sophia and the other witches and you also get to see how Maika is still struggling with trying to figure out what kind of person she really is due to the nature of her powers. Even though this issue was not as action packed as the first issue, I still really enjoyed the character interactions between the characters, especially between Maika and the cat and the building tension of the Warlord trying to capture Maika. I also enjoyed seeing the two tailed cat and Kippa the fox human child make an appearance in this issue as I wanted to see more development from them and it was great seeing their reactions to Maika becoming a monster in the last issue, especially with Kippa now being afraid of Maika because of the events of the last issue.  Maika’s interactions with the two tailed cat was pretty entertaining as well as she is often snarky towards the cat and it reminded me of the relationship between Coraline and the cat in Neil Gaiman’s book “Coraline.”

Sana Takeda’s artwork:  Sana Takeda’s artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at, especially of all the exotic clothing worn by each character, especially the Warlord’s clothing being a black dress with jewelry hanging over it that makes her look truly menacing and yet unique in appearance.  I also loved the images of the two tailed cat that looks so adorable and creative, especially with its two small tails.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like gory violence, there are some scenes of people getting their heads chopped off with blood spraying everywhere and some readers might be a bit unnerved by these images if they do not like seeing gory violence in graphic novels.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Monstress Volume One: Awakening Part Two” is another great issue from Marjorie Liu’s intriguing series “Monstress” and I cannot wait to see what happens to Maika and her crew next!