Storm King Comics 2019
Written by Steve Niles
Illustrated by Damien Worm
Colour Assists by Alyzia Zherno
Lettered by Janice Chiang
MONICA BLEUE: A WEREWOLF STORY #3 (of 5)
Monica's father confronts her as she returns home, and she is able to tell him everything. Together, the two begin to bond as she learns to harness the powers of her transmutation. But her newly heightened senses are detecting a hidden evil lying deep within their country town.
This is completely geared towards an all-age audience and by all the gods above and below this is one of the most quintessential and impeccably executed story that I have had the pleasure to be reading. Horror isn't a genre where you find a lot of all-ages work and when you do it ends up being along the lines of Twighlight, which is horrendous for any number of reasons. However, what Steve is doing with this just reaffirms for me that the man is one of today's most talented writers that you will ever find. I wish every parent in the world would come to the same conclusion that Monica's father has, which is essentially whatever you are, whatever happened you are my kid and I will love you and support you in every way that I possibly can. Gosh darn it!, while my folk were cool with me there always was a distance as no one really knew what to say and to have discussions that are sensitive at a younger age well that's another story for another day.
I am in love with this book, this story and these creators. I have been a fan of Storm King Comics since they started up and not once has the level of quality in the books dipped even a little bit. Pound for pound they've had the best concepts, executions and variety and quite honestly can do no wrong and yes that's by me but, and it's a big but, I can promise, see guarantee, you'll feel the same way too. It is impossible not to feel that way when the storytelling is this good.
The way this is being told is phenomenal. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is exceptionally well presented. I love that her father demands answers and we see the story and end by Monica so we know she's told everything and it all just feels normal and right. The character development we see is utterly phenomenal. The way that they interact with one another, how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they find themselves in and of course the dialogue all conspires to flesh their personalities out even further. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages it helps create this totally delightful ebb & flow to the book.
The interiors here are really delightful. This is where the all-ages feeling comes into play because while Monica has become a werewolf we don't really see gore. We see gross moments and moments that could make one squirm but there are none that show anything even close to graphic. The linework is strong and sure and how we see the varying weights utilised to bring us the attention to detail is marvellous. The faces and facial expressions we see plus the body language really do wonders to further the characterisation in ways words alone cannot do. I like that we see backgrounds, though as always there could be more, and how they are utilised within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book. I love the nose ring and even more when she wolf's out and even though that's something we see on a bull it totally works here. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong, solid eye for storytelling. The colour work is really well rendered. How we see the various hues and tones within colours utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is really rather amazing.
The story on a whole is one of the best around. I love that this is geared toward a younger audience and yet it really works for readers of any age and gender. I would happily pass this around and have it become that device free dinner conversation starter. There are so many moments that take the reader off-script as they imagine themselves in one role or another and how the characters relate to them. The sign of a truly talented writer is one who can do all that and more and Steve certainly fits that bill.