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With years spent reading single issues here and there, juggling storylines of dozens of titles, I decided it was time to find a better way to read comics. So, it was off to the back issue bins armed with the longest want list you’ve ever seen! Putting together series after series and reading them in their complete goodness, I was reborn as the Comics Binge-Reader!

Title: Monstrous
Publisher: Source Point Press
Number of Issues: 4
First Issue: 2018 ($3.99)
Last Issue: 2018 ($3.99)
Writer: Greg Wright
Artist: Ken Lamug

In the world of Monstrous, Dr. Frankenstein created an army of robots after his monster tried to destroy him. The monster learned Frankenstein’s secrets and began creating other monsters of his own. Monsters he could not control. Years later Dr. Frankenstein and his monster still seek to destroy each other. However, Monstrous isn’t about this struggle. It’s an anthology set within this world – each issue following a different bunch of characters.

The first issue follows Ilsa as she seeks vengeance against Kurt Venomtooth, the snake monster that killed her father. She enlists the aid of a rabbit monster named Gruber, who is wanted for murder. The duo can make Kurt pay – but at what cost?

In issue two, we meet Hans – the first officer in Dr. Frankenstein‘s Franken-Squad to become a robot/human hybrid. Along with his friend Igor, Hans seeks to free his daughter, Astrid, from the patchwork monster named Oskar.

Three monsters show they’ve got a heart of gold in the third tale. Berta, Gerta and Dirk are tasked with stealing a block of ice containing the frozen body of Dracula from the town of Hampelmann. While they’re escaping with the ice block, they happen upon a mortally wounded woman who has just given birth. She begs them to take care of her child. Now the three must protect this child while Mayor Konrad Sweetwater and the citizens of Hampelmann descend upon them … not to mention that block of ice is starting to melt…

In the final story, Deputy Katarina Schultz oversees the final night at Franken Squad Station 17, a remote jail located high atop Last Chance Mountain. Things get interesting when Maria the Voodoo Priestess and her horde of zombies swarm the jail, looking for Dietrich. Can Deputy Schultz, her father, Boris Raskopf (the jail’s last prisoner – the man who caused Schultz’s father to lose his arm) and fellow cop Dietrich fend off this herd of zombies? They probably could … except for the fact that they quickly discover that they can’t even trust each other!

The Bad: There’s a lot to talk about here but I’m going to start with the smallest concern. Labeling this as a series of comics (issues #1-4) is quite misleading. Since all four stories have no bearing on each other, it would have been better to publish these as four separate one-shots. Discovering this was going to be an anthology was a disappointment since the sequential numbering gave me a different impression.

If that was the only problem I could find against this series, it’d be a masterpiece. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The artwork leaves a lot to be desired. And, while it is certainly functional, it’s also very amateurish. The same could be said of the dialogue, as well. I feel that the creators made a grave misstep by focusing on these little tales rather than telling the more compelling story that this world is built upon.

The Good: The best part about this series is the story upon which this world is built. The brief glimpses of this ongoing conflict between Dr. Frankenstein (and his robot army) and the monsters created by Frankenstein’s monster were the highlights of this read. This series has all the ingredients of a cool off-beat horror story: high concept, Frankenstein, Dracula, zombies, werewolves, voodoo priestesses and “everymen” … unfortunately, the recipe just doesn’t produce a compelling read. The story with the best ending (very Twilight Zone-esque) can be found in the first issue.

In My eBay Store: Monstrous |
In My Atomic Avenue Store: Monstrous | Frankenstein