It appears that nothing is really what it seems, and something sinister is going on behind the scenes with both the mistakes and the Big Girls. And Ember's journey into discovering this is only beginning. Big Girls #1 is a thrilling read that should be part of everyone's pull list.  Read Full Review

A killer debut that poses a horrific "What if" question with an even scarier answer. Read Full Review

Big Girls # 1 forces you to focus on the follies of man. Or as Ember states it “Men….The Giant Insane Monster Men”. It also brings up the conversation of what matters, is it only the massive that has meaning. Or should we take measure and look for meaning in the miniscule as well. Read Full Review

'Big Girls' #1 is an epic beginning to a dystopian Earth filled with monsters, incredibly tall women, and an unpredictable journey of adventure ahead. Read Full Review

Big Girls #1 was an intense, yet fascinating, start to a new series. Personally, I'm already looking forward to reading the second issue, and so on and so forth. Having read this first issue, I can completely understand the comparisons made during the marketing campaign. They're already proving to be spot-on. Though Big Girls is also providing its own flair, naturally. Here's hoping that trend continues. Read Full Review

Big Girls blends a dash of Attack on Titan with stories likeMan-Eaters and Eve of Extinction while being wholly its own original concept. Fans of kaiju brawls and morally complicated stories alike can look up to Big Girls and know they're in good hands … probably. Read Full Review

I have a soft spot for kaiju stories, and Big Girls #1 is evocative of this genre. I like the twist that focuses on the human origins of the monsters; this sets up a much more sophisticated conflict. This is a solid start to something that doesn't feel like a story I've read dozens of times before. Read Full Review

Brace yourself for large scale creativity from Jason Howard, presenting a post-apocalypse where it's ladies first. Read Full Review

A sharply paced first issue with ample world-building and stellar artwork. Read Full Review

As first issues go, this one really doesnt give you much chance to catch your breath. Its full throttle pretty much from the start, and from past experience Im expecting Howard to just keep cranking up the action and excitement all the way to the last page of the series. It has great characters, great monsters, great narrative and superb artwork. Trust me, youre going to want to pick this up and you arent going to want to put it down! Read Full Review

With its debut issue, "Big Girls" proves itself to be a series worth getting keeping your eye on Read Full Review

Those who aren't interested in this series' themes likely won't be fans, but Jason Howard has crafted a fine start to the series.  Read Full Review

Big Girls #1 is an interesting debut. It's either much smarter than initially sold or might undercut itself. It's hard to say with one issue but it's something that's worthy to explore further. It might be a bit blunt in its messaging but it features a lot more than its giant battling women might have you believe. Read Full Review

In Big Girls #1, 300-foot-tall Ember fights against the patriarchy-as-kaiju. Yet, Howards bioessentialist metaphor is battling itself, as is his striking yet simultaneously underwhelming art. One can only hope Big Girls comes into its own with time. Read Full Review

There are far worse first issues than this one, and its competently well-made in every way but the story. Tonal inconsistencies and derivative characters hold this back from being great, but future issues may correct those issues. Read Full Review

When all is said and done i found Big Girls #1 to be wanting in numerous ways. It themes felt heavy handed and its art did nothing for me. While there are aspects of this book land reasonably well, they are far too little to overcome the books larger shortcomings Read Full Review

I saw Big Girls #1 on the shelf of my local comic shop. I flipped through the comic and put it back down. It looked interesting but wasn't enough to push me over the edge to purchase. A couple of days later I saw a "Comics Matter" video covering the book and I decided to give it a shot.

In this setting, we're not giving the reason for why things are bad, we're dropped into the middle of a nightmare. Every child born in this setting has to be registered. The fear is this world is that boys may grow into Kaiju sized monsters (Jacks) while girls potentially grow exponentially in size.

The series follows "The Preserve" and the organization within it that are working to contain the threat. On the ground, there is High Marshall James Tannik and his crew. In the air, there is Ember who is one of the titular "Big Girls".

The comic does a great job of illustrating the roles of the organization. We see James and his crew in what appears to be a routine mission to investigate a father trying to hide the fact that his child is a "Jack". We also see Ember in her role as a protector against the monsters as she attempts to take one down.

There is a huge WTF moment that occurs about midway through the issue that cemented the series on my comic book pull list. I won't spoil it here but it shows just how far the organization will go to contain the threat.

Aside from the shock factor, the comic is a lot of fun and the concept is unique. The idea that all of the male characters are a risk to destroy the city could have been a "woke" mess but men are treated with empathy and I was able to relate to the situation on a human level. It's a horrible scenario but it's also a "Is what it is" situation.

Jason Howard does a good at conveying size and scale. This is very important whenever you're contrasting giant characters and their normal human-sized allies. The art is sketchy and kinda rough but is energetic and the action sequences are nice. On a side note, I'd love to see Brian Hitch's take on this material.

I'm not sure how much mileage Jason will be able to get out of the "Big Girls" concept but this is a nice start to the series. It blends a few genres into a unique concept and I'll stick with the series at least through the first arc. If you're a fan of giant monsters and cheesy sci-fi, Big Girls may be the series for you.

Rating: 8.5/10
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Sometimes big problems require big solutions. Similarly, behind every giant monster, there’s an equally giant woman, waiting to kick its ass and save the day. This is a world where there are people larger than life—literally. Big Girls is a new but familiar Kaiju story which is a mix between the worlds of Pacific Rim movies and Paper Girls comic and it’s packed with action, solid world-building, and enough political intrigue to make it a good reading experience.

BIG GIRLS SET UP:

Set in the future where a science experiment gone wrong unleashes a great threat to humanity, the danger of megaorganisms upon the world. These monsters mutate from males who are born with a condition that causes them to grow to colossal proportions and change into a monstrous countenance. But humanity has hope, The Big Girls. When a girl is born with the condition they too gain size, but keep their humanity and form unimpaired. This leads these rare women to be the last line of defense against the skyscraper-sized engines of destruction that used to be men.

How this situation came to be is shrouded in mystery as all those involved in the research that brought the megaorganisms into being died in the world’s first encounter with the monsters. Due to a near-pathological fear of what experimentation might bring any new disaster, no one has continued research into the creatures and on finding a cure.

The comic follows Ember — the latest Big Girl, a group of giant women dedicated to protecting the world from giant monsters. The synopsis for the comic is “When men become giant monsters hellbent on destroying the world, only girls can stop them—BIG GIRLS. Meet Ember—she writes poetry, loves to read, and she’s a 300-foot-tall full-time monster killer! She and the other big girls are all that stand in the way of our world’s complete annihilation!”. The publisher described the tale as a cross between John Wick, Godzilla, and HBO’s Girls, which sounds like a great mix of genres.

BIG GIRLS: CHARACTERS AND STORY

Big Girls starts off with a bang, both literally and metaphorically it wastes no time, throwing readers right into the deep end of events that will get a bit dark. It’s appropriate for the setting, and it goes a long way in establishing the stakes. A world suffering from an undisclosed virus with only one safe place where bold decisions make a difference, called “The Preserve.” A society where pregnancy is given extra medical scrutiny to prevent the birth of any new monsters.

It slightly nods to political issues too, which even includes a line “Not to point fingers, but there’s no more arguing about what’s wrong with the world. It’s men.” There are only a few characters in this self-contained comic. Some of the main ones include James Tannik High Marshal of The Cube, Preserve’s central command, a Big Girl named Ember who is on her first civilian investigation with the marshal.

The measure of preventing humanity from becoming monsters has turned to take the form of High Marshal James Tannik. Marshal Tannik searches out people who may be harboring young males who present signs that they might turn into megaorganisms aka ‘Jack.’ When discovered, those situations are resolved brutally. Whether or not the actions taken by Tannik and The Cube are truly necessary can be questioned, especially since working to try to discover a cure for the condition is forbidden. One way or the other, Tannik comes across as merciless having little remorse for his severe actions.

The titular Big Girl Ember’s character is exactly what this world needs. She balances out all of the dark, providing a human element in a world that is rapidly losing its reason to care. Big Girls like Ember, protects humanity and keep the streets of The Preserve safe from the ‘Jacks’ of the outside world as well as assisting in investigations of finding future megaorganisms inside The Preserve. Ember sees herself as one of the heroes who believe in having a purpose. And she certainly fits the part.

Caring and brave she willingly faces the threats of humanity head-on. But when she assists Tannik in an arrest things take a turn she isn’t ready for. This event completely shakes her deeply and leaves her more than a bit rattled. Making Amber question herself and feel not special or human. However, before she can delve too deeply into what this moment means to her future a mega-organism is spotted approaching her city. Then we get a big battle sequence that ends with her finding herself in a more tough and critical situation.

There’s still a lot to learn about Amber’s character, and the world that she lives in. The title of the series implies that there will be more than one like Ember, but so far we only meet Ember and there are a couple of other names mentioned who might be important in the coming stories.

MERITS AND DEMERITS:

The beginning of Howard’s manmade Kaiju story makes a case of promising compelling character drama in between all the gigantic battles. The comic has few setbacks as it’s already a heard story with slight differences making it predictable, and the story narration is descriptive. But it’s cleverly interwoven with the panel reveals and cool pacing. It’s largely a non-issue for the first issue of a new comic, as long as it manages to promise an interesting setup for the future. Luckily that is the case for Big Girls #!

The first issue is all about world-building but it lacked enough substance to get the readers hooked when it comes to characters. The comic definitely has an interesting group of characters but it might not be enough to make its readers fall in love with the characters as yet. It did succeed in making a good first impression with a composition of the intriguing universe and cool artwork. Hopefully, the coming issues will get more interesting with more plot than setup.

The first chapter spends time introducing the numerous complex motivations and conflicts within the small cast of primary characters. The character motivations are described very briefly and the backstory is told through a series of quick bursts, yet it’s efficient for explaining everything that has happened, as well as leaving hints for what is likely to come in the future.

The story is not a new one, but the only distinctive thing is having a story of a good giant versus a monstrous giant, which offers a different dynamic where the cause of both giants is human-made. On top of that, only females who are born with the condition will stay human, whereas males turn into monsters, which is a unique spin on post-apocalyptic monster stories.

The creator himself compared this comic to a few popular properties which are spot-on. It’s also a little bit reminiscent of The Last of Us video-game, with the similarity of a disease that causes people to turn into monsters. It also brings to mind the Pacific Rim movie, where there’s a special unit to take care of the monsters. Jason Howard is a great creator so non-surprisingly he provided his own unique flair to a Kaiju story in Big Girls. Hoping that trend continues.

ARTWORK SHOWCASES JASON HOWARD’S BRILLIANT CREATIVITY:

Jason Howard’s utilization of visuals is what makes this comic interesting. He handled the panel layouts with exciting pacing with every turn-of-the-page. Throughout the comic, he smartly pictured the framing of a panel which includes any giant from below, in a normal spectator view so that we can feel the sheer scale of the giants. Normally we see that in monster movies, but seeing that inside a comic is really fun. The cinematic change of scales works very effectively and it is a brilliant choice by Howard.

Howard’s artwork is bold, heavily textured and it’s great for this ruined-future action-adventure series. The linework is incredibly rough too, giving the art a rushed feeling to it. There’s a lot of unnecessary lines in a lot of the images, which often seem to serve an unknown purpose. It sounds like I am bashing the style of this comic, but I’m not. Some may not find this art very appealing, but I think this is exactly what sells this comic’s game and this is what Howard’s intention is.

Because the rougher details and designs of the various characters, ruined environments, and lesion-covered monsters suit nicely to this falling apart the dystopian world. I honestly think the artwork is what saved the more boring expository reading. The coloring here is respectable, but all in all a solid performance. It mostly contains dim colors nothing bright and very shady. The giant action sequences are specifically colored in orange and yellow. Also, whenever a character expresses an aggressive mood or shouts or suddenly, the panel color changes which is a smart technique. While nothing is unique about the letter work, Fondgrafiks’ lettering provided a sense of balance and stability to this world.

CONCLUSION: WORLD OF BIG GIRLS IS FASCINATING

While the specifications of the Big Girls #1 scenario are admittedly unique, its themes feel similar and cliche. While none of its story elements are particularly bad, they feel a bit obvious. A huge part of why Big Girls is a must-read is because of what we were shown. Jason Howard’s skills as both a writer and an artist allowed him to craft a story that utilizes the medium’s ability to combine visual storytelling, with distinct artwork and great world-building.

The reason for what caused this monster situation and why people are turning into giant monsters is not revealed…just yet. I am more than interested to find out those answers. Either way, this first issue will successfully grab your attention given that you will like the artwork and in my case, it held firmly. The debut issue of Big Girls is certainly not that excellent but it is a good and promising start for the fascinating monster-filled comic series. more