'Monstress' #1 is a dazzling dark fantasy with subversive social and political undertones that cut at the heart our existence now as told through this grim fairytale of vengeance and injustice. Liu and Takeda have taken elements of steampunk, fantasy and kaiju and created a singularly frightening world where a young woman defies her oppressors but doesn't triumph without sacrificing part of her soul. This is the type of storytelling that envelopes you and doesn't let you go. Read Full Review

Overall, Monstress is quite an exquisite read. Its a delightfully rich experience to be savoured at a slow and relaxed pace. Make sure when you read it that time is taken to drink in the astonishingly wonderful art and absorb yourself in a thoroughly complete world as you join Maika on her journey. Read Full Review

The less one knows about this comic the better because its best experienced first-hand. This was the best, and most surprising comic book read this week. Image Comics has added what has the potential to be a groundbreaking series to its line. Theres something for everyone, those who like inventive stories and those who value art will find value in this comic. This title should be added to any serious comic readers pull-list! Read Full Review

It isn't every day that a comic comes that moves me in such a way that it's hard to speak. Liu and Takeda have created such a book. Read Full Review

MONSTRESS is a heavy book. Don't let the gorgeous imagery on the cover fool you. Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda are not messing around with the heavy themes and situations presented. You'll be captivated by the story that transpires but you'll also feel like you're prying into the personal struggles of the main character. If you're looking for a heavy story with gorgeous artwork along with a big struggle and plenty of action, you'll want to check this out. At $4.99 for sixty-six pages, it's quite a bargain. The story is the kind that will sit with you on your mind and heart well after you finish reading. It's a bleak beginning in a far-from-happy world but you won't be able to turn away. Read Full Review

Liu in one issue has put together what feels like a thought out world with a history that goes back decades. Battles are referenced, events mentioned, it all feels like its been thought out and meticulously put together. Add on top of that women (well character really) of all types, shapes, sizes, skin color, and you have what is a diverse, in many ways, debut. All of that together creates one of the best debuts, and comics, of the year. Read Full Review

While I hated that I ended up waiting as long as I did to get into Monstress, I'm glad that I've got half a year's worth of issues to dig into over the next couple of weeks before I have to suffer the wait for new issues like everyone else. Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda have put together something here that reminds me of so many of my favorite influential works but bringing their own sense into it all. While the comparatives are there at the moment in order to showcase the way it can be accessible to new readers, this is a series that I believe will stand alongside them for years to come in the same way with other books being compared to it. This is an impressive first issue that has so much potential with the talents involved that it's almost intoxicating. Read Full Review

The story is complex, nuanced, and never once holds your hand. Issue 1 is a complete, satisfying, moving story in itself, maybe one of the year's best, and the fact that we have more to come only makes it that much more exciting. Read Full Review

Takeda's character design ranges from the adorable to the unsettling. The tiny fox-child Kippa, grasping her fuzzy tail, is an endearing sliver of imperiled innocence in a grim world, while amputees due to cannibalism abound along with kaiju-esque Monstrum. It's this pairing of beauty with despair and, well, monstrousness, that gives Monstress its substantial impression: feathery, gorgeous renderings of the evils of which humanity is capable in its ignorance, and how that brutality affects the people caught in its crosshairs. This is a dramatically stunning debut for an incredibly promising series. Read Full Review

Other than slavery being what looks like totally legal in this world, there's also somehints of lots of not so greathappenings, like genocide and the obvious discrimination. There is severe mistreatment of other races of beings, as there are humans and non human races present. Be warned that this comic is for mature readers!Issue #1 gave us over 60 pages of dazzling, bloody introduction to Maika's world and a terrifying glimpse of the deep, dark being that haunts her. Read Full Review

Monstress #1 is a confident book. The story is visceral, and exciting whenever it doesn't shock you into silence. Prospective readers shouldbe prepared for intense gore, mutilation and suggested sexual violence. Some scenes will churn your stomach. Those who are able to appreciate how the violence works within the story will find a wonderfully challenging tale. Read Full Review

This is a great book, and I think the size of the this first issue was an excellent choice. I often complain about the slow pace of a #1, and the requisite cliff hanger so you'll ante up for #2, but this book sells you completely on the story instead. There's much more room for details and answers, and the leaves-you-hanging ending doesn't feel nearly as cheap as many books. Sure, it leaves you wanting more, but with anticipation instead of a groan. That's solid reading, in my opinion, and it's just one more reason why you should pick this up today. Read Full Review

Monstress #1 is a wholly unique book, drawing from Chinese and Japanese influences which make it stand out among the traditional Euro-themed clutter. Marjorie Liu creates a dark and dangerous world full of mystery and mysticism that in lesser hands would fall apart but here stands tall. Sana Takeda is truly impressive. If Monsteress maintains a monthly release schedule, she'll deserve an award for such immaculate quality. The series is setting out for a very, very dark tone but if it's for you, it comes highly recommended. Read Full Review

This is one of the strongest openings to a comic this year. Get on board. Read Full Review

The weakest part of this book happens towards the end, as it gets distracted by a lot of complicated backstory. Maika's climatic confrontation with Yvette Lo Lim, the witch she seems to blame for all her troubles, only reveals a bunch of flashes and fragments that don't add up to much"at least not yet. Sure, it's a mystery that'll keep you wondering all the way to issue #2. But the real tantalizing tease isn't the exact details of the Battle of Constantine, or Yvette Lo Lim's relationship to Maika's mother, or who betrayed whom and how. It's the strange, scary thing that's gotten itself attached to Maika"and what she's going to become next. Read Full Review

There is one scene of clunky info-dump when a friend of Maika's mother tells and sadly doesn't show some key backstory information about her relationship with Maika's family and a plot element that may be of future importance. However, Monstress #1 is well worth a read because of Marjorie Liu's nuanced characterization, especially of Maika, Sophia, and Tuya in the flashbacks, and application of real world themes into an apocalyptic urban fantasy universe with intricate architectural, character, and monster design from Sana Takeda. It is full of female characters, who aren't necessarily role models, but have rich inner lives and motivations. You'll come for the sun-kissed shelves of Sophia's library and the establishing shots of the Mieville-esque city of Zamora where Sophia does her “research”, but will stay for the hard hitting, emotional story of a young woman named Maika, who is overcoming the very literal monster within her freedom seeking soul. Read Full Review

Monstress #1 is a comic with a lot to offer in terms of story, world, and character. It can try to do a little too much at times, but the quality of the writing and characters are easily strong enough to elevate the comic past that. Read Full Review

Monstress is a haunting look at war, that leaves the reader convicted aboutwhat they would be willing to do,in the name ofsurvival. Read Full Review

With sixty-six pages of gorgeous art and haunting storytelling, Monstress is certainly a debut that demands your attention. Marjorie Liu is telling a story with the kind of breadth and polish that you'd usually only find in Saga. Add to that that this book is beautiful and different from nearly anything else on the shelves and you've got quite a start to an intriguing series. The only problem is that Monstress #1 is a very difficult read and one that doesn't necessarily pitch the series well. You won't necessarily know if you're going to love this series when you put this issue down, but Liu and Takeda seem to be counting on you being too blown away to mind. It's a weird start to a series, but a masterful issue. Trust that there are big things in store and trust that you'll be hearing more about Monstress. Read Full Review

All told, "Monstress" #1 contains one heck of a dark fantasy world. With its impressive range of female representation, truly unique aesthetic and promising conflict, this could be the start of an awesome new series. Read Full Review

Monstress #1 introduces an extensive, promising mythology to what could prove to be a memorable and poignant fantasy tale. So long as it doesn't get too tied up in its own details, and allows the intricate, elegant world it presents to unfold itself, it could be another great fantasy epic for comics. Read Full Review

It would be undue to finish up this review without praising Sana Takedas artwork. In lesser hands, the execution would not have worked quite as well as it does. The wide range of people, men, women, and inhuman alike all stand apart, this isnt a series that reuses faces or body types. That the first issue clocks in at 66 pages with no loss of quality is a testament to the people involved. While the first issue is a bit of a rough landing story-wise, that the creators give so much with 66 pages at whats increasingly a common price point for a regular Marvel comic is something else entirely. This is still a comic worth giving a go for any readers looking to check out a new series, or see work from such a fantastic team. Read Full Review

The problem being, that ultimately all these visuals and bits of magic are the garnish, rather than the true meat of a story. Monstress may look beautiful, but even at 66 pages, I still feel like there's something missing here - ultimately, that this lead character isn't quite as compelling as the sprawling magical world around her. There is a ton of potential to Liu's story, particularly as she draws in more and more real-world examples of the hellishness of war and the traumas that come in its aftermath. But until we have a strong point of view character to guide us, all the spells in the world won't make this book truly fly. Read Full Review

The story is a little confusing with talk of wars and walls. None the less it's entertaining, the art is gorgeous which helps. Read Full Review

Spectacular. I was hooked from the first page. Liu's writing establishes the tone and creates the world so quickly, and Takeda's illustrations are so beautiful and vivid that I find it hard to imagine someone not being completely enthralled with this issue. Phenomenal debut.

Just impressive.

At $4.99, it's actually a pretty good deal considering you get three times the number of pages in a regular comic. The artwork is striking and elegant, with a story reminiscent of a Miyazaki film. The backstory eluded to throughout sounds like a WWI type scenario and I hope to see some coverage of that aspect. I think this will be a smash hit with manga readers but even those reading American comics like myself will find something to enjoy here.

A superb story with hints of far more to come, and magnificent artwork. This comic was not that hard to 'get into'. I hope it proves popular for these points rather than because of the fashionable "diversity" of its cast and creators.

It was a wonderfull first issue and it might even be called a spectacular book. Mostly it just keeps in my mind and I can't stop wondering where this story will go... The next issues will be most certainly bought by me!

perfect first issue. for someone who's not into fantasy and/or manga like myself, it was a very pleasant surprise. might be the sleeper hit from image in 2015

Amazing and beautiful artwork by Sana Takeda.

Marjorie Liu did a good job of introducing the environment and some of the characters in the story. The history and current events are still a little fuzzy. I'm not entirely sure what happened, or why it happened, but I know that things are at a "stalemate". This doesn't entirely explain why things are happening the way they are in the comic, but I read on and suppress my curiosity.

The main character, Maika, is introduced as an "arcanic", as opposed to being human, and I picked up that something tragic happened to her. Something tragic is currently happening to her, but she is calm and collective. Is this because she's an arcanic? Or because her life is so tragic that this tragedy is normal to her?

These questions had me glued to the beginning pages of this comic. I was hoping to find answers or clues to my questions in the following pages but it did not come. I didn't get more information regarding her tragic past either.

There was a lot of garble that followed, about events and things dealing with the history that has not yet been fully explained. I lost a great deal of interest during these middle pages of the comic but read on because of the beautiful artwork.

Overall, the comic had a good start and ended well. The last several pages grabbed my attention again and left me with a ton more questions. I hope find some of my answers in the next issue. more