An invasion by kaiju-like creatures does happen in Monsters Unleashed. However, these behemoths are unlike anything to have ever graced the pages of a Marvel Comic. Planet Earth has been chosen as the newest nest of the Leviathon Queen, a massive crimson egg-laying beast. But before she can settle in, the world must be cleansed of vermin. That means 'bye-bye, pesky humans.'
The superhuman population assembles on a global scale like never before. Heroes and villains join forces to stop these Leviathons from decimating the planet. That's where the Marvel monsters of the Silver Age of comics step in. They've been biding their time waiting for the chance to conquer our planet and they're not about to let a bunch of extraterrestrial interlopers just swoop in and take the planet from them!
Monsters Unleashed was unlike any massive crossover event I've ever read from the House of Ideas. For one thing, it was fun. There wasn't any sort of major shock, like the death of Captain America at the end of Civil War. The editors didn't try to add some new character that was going to change the way we looked at people of color or gender or reveal that some beloved established character was now retconned to be furry or something like that. Instead, this storyline was a tribute to the giant monsters of a by-gone era of creativity and thinly veiled fear of the Red Menace of Communism!
The new character that was introduced in this series was a young pre-teen boy named Kei. He has the ability to draw monsters and make them appear and disappear as needed. With this ability, Kei becomes Kid Kaiju (a freakin' awesome 2010s superhero name if I've ever heard one) and perhaps humanity's last hope for salvation against these big nasties.
I really loved how Monsters Unleashed utilized Moon Girl. Having her become a sort of mentor for new hero Kei was a perfect casting choice. Then we have monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone becoming Kei's bodyguard and mentor in a preview of a Monsters Unleashed regular series that continues from where the 5th issue of the miniseries ends. Even though I've got plans to downsize my collection somewhat, I think I'd be more than happy to collect the follow-up series because just like this crossover event, it was fun.
Okay. Now it's time to pick apart the story a little. With kaijus appearing all over the globe, both villains and protagonist alike, there's a lot of destruction here. Some notable landmarks become piles of rubble, like the Nevada's Hoover Dam, the imperial palace of Wakanda and Johannesburg's FNB Stadium. I've read Marvel stuff from the past 7 years since this story came out. I've not heard about rebuilding efforts from Monsters Unleashed still being a thing in the Marvel Universe. Is superhero calamity reconstruction company Damage Control that good at quick repairs? Or do the magicians of the Marvel Universe like Doctor Strange cast instance rebuild spells? I think what I'm trying to get at is as much as I enjoyed the scenes of massive destruction, the level seen in this book was just too implausible to me.
Cullen Bunn penned a great story that was a thrill ride a minute. Smartly plotted. Hilarious banter. The art was good. Though a lot of the alien kaiju seemed to have googly eyes that made them look more silly that deadly serious. (Was Hobby Lobby having a sale on them?) I did mourn the death of one of Kid Kaiju's creations. The character is only there for like 5 pages and yet I feel in love with them. Hopefully, they'll make a return! Some great variant covers by Arthur Adams appear in the back and they're not to be missed.
Another gem unearthed at my nearest Ollie's, Monsters Unleashed is an extremely fun read despite it's over-the-top level of chaos and destruction.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment