Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Damien Worm
Publisher: IDW
Released: 21st May 2014
How can I not say something about this excellent book? The previous two issues have been fantastic, and this concluding book caps everything off perfectly.
The artwork in this one is all about the atmosphere created with colouring and shading. Shadows, bleak reds and brief flashes of light create a feeling of grim darkness that is perfect for anybody wanting to delve into the more gothic side of the comic book world. I love that kind of stuff, and when it’s done well it is something to behold. This book is done extremely well, and the story of Jack the Ripper creating a bride for Frankenstein’s monster, using his need for body parts as justification for indulging in his sadistic slayings, is the perfect justification for these two characters interacting with each other.
The ending itself offers finality, but there’s no comfort there. That’s what you want in this bleak, coal black horror yarn about a tormented creature meeting a deranged lunatic. There can be no happy ending here, and when you don’t get one you are perfectly willing to accept it. Sometimes in life things end badly. Sometimes that’s all there is. There are no heroes, just disappointment and pain, and all you can do is decide to end the suffering. That isn’t depressing, it’s a brutal fact of life and to see it here in this excellent book is a sign of superior writing by a man who knows that sometimes, oftentimes, life just sucks, and that the longer you live, the more it continues to suck.
Dark stuff, right? Well that’s life and you have to tell it like it is sometimes. That’s what I want in my comics, some harsh truths. We might not like them, and we might not always want to hear them, but if you live in a bubble where truth never enters what kind of life is that? You might as well be in prison, and who cares how comfortable it is. Prison is still prison, and only truth will set you free.
If you haven’t already got this book then get it now. Three issues, all excellent and with a satisfying conclusion. Great stuff. If you have ever been into the Horror genre then Monster & Madman is an essential purchase. Why can’t all comic books be as good as this one? Now that’s a question, and I’d suggest that the bubble of untruth that a lot of comic book fans have created for themselves might go a long way into explaining it. I’ll leave that thought dangling for the time being. All you need to know about this book is that it’s bloody good gothic stuff. If that’s your thing then get it now. You’ll love it.
Rating 9/10
