Monsters! & Other Stories
Author: Gustavo Duarte
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: 152
Price: $12.99
“Newcomer Gustavo Duarte spins wordless tales brimming with humor, charm, and delightfully twisted horror! In Monsters!, oversized beasts wreak havoc on cities in the tradition of Godzilla and King Kong. In Có!, an alien abduction disarms a gentle farmer, and in Birds, two business partners run from fate only to find themselves hopelessly unable to change the future.”
I’m going to go ahead and make a bold prediction. If you read this book you will never forget the name Gustavo Duarte. He may even become your favorite comic artist of all time. Possibly writer, too, but as you will read in a little bit, it might just be artist. Look, I was sold on the cover alone, I mean that is one badass looking Monster. Plus when you tell me that this book is going to contain Horror and Comedy (my two favorite genres), then I am in for sure.
Now that I am sitting here writing this review, I just don’t know what to really gush over first, it was all so good! The artwork, oh the GORE-Geous MOTHER F!¢^ing ARTWORK! Duarte’s style is more on the cartoonish side, which plays so well into how this books comes across to the reader. Each story has tons of comical moments, but they also have a serious tone to them. His characters come across as animations on the TV screen. Now when I say that I mean when I try to think back to how the stories played out, they appear as cartoons in my brain. The colors just shine, and he only used black and a light blue. Oh man, just buy this book because it looks so damn good.
So what do I mean by the “just artist” statement above? Well it’s simple. There is no dialogue in this book. The stories are told visually, which can easily be a downfall for any comic. I mean who wants to read a comic without words, right? Well you might as well consider Gustavo a master of making you read something you aren’t literally reading, then. These are some of the best short stories I have read in a while. Because the visuals are presented with so much emotion and passion, the scenes will come to life and you’ll create the dialogue internally.
The stories were all beyond f!¢^ing fantastic. Of the three stories I have to say that “Birds” was my favorite. It had the most horror in it. Now don’t get me wrong, “Monsters!” and “CÓ!” were AGH-Mazing reads. I mean come on, giant monsters rampaging through a city, who doesn’t like that, right? And a story about aliens, pigs, and a giant man eating chicken…instant classic! To rate the three stories would be tough for some, but not me. “Birds” would easily get a 10, and the other two would be like a 9.75. It’s all so damn good.
After reading this book and then writing this review, I’ve come to one conclusion. I need to read this book again and again and…again! This book has Award winner written all over it, and it’s only the start of 2014. I mean come on, I’ve read a lot Horror Comics, but this one is up there on that top tier. It’s screaming at me, “TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT ME! I’M THAT DAMN GOOD!” It’s going to be hard when December rolls around for this book to not be my Best OGN of 2014. So just go read it already…stop reading this…SERIOUSLY STOP…now go read this book!
Dying Breath 5.0 out of 5.0
Decapitated Dan
decapitateddan@comicattack.net
