Early Graphic Novel Review – Monsters! and Other stories by Gustavo Duarte (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/horror/humor
Length: 152 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: January 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0439823326
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I got a copy of this graphic novel to review from netGalley; so thanks to NetGalley and Dark Horse for the opportunity to review this book. This book was unlike any graphic novel I’ve read before. It’s told all in pictures and is cleverly done with elements of humor and horror.

The book is broken into three stories. The first is about a pig farmer whose pigs are captured by aliens, as you can imagine bizarre things ensue after their return. The second story is about some office-working birds who seek to escape their fate; this was very funny in a dark way. The third is about a bunch of giant sea monsters who go on a rampage in a large Brazilian city (very King Kongish).

All of the stories are told entirely in pictures (no words) this was cleverly done, but there were a couple points where things are a bit confusing because of this. A couple times I had to go back and re-study the frames in more detail to figure out what was going on. The drawing style is pretty cartoonish with bold lines throughout. It’s mostly black and white with some grey.

The stories are very funny and ironic. They are also violent and a bit gory (the only reason I might suggest this as a young adult or older graphic novel).

By far my favorite story was the Monsters! one, this was a very fun story and was done in a way that it was easy to follow what was going on. This is a very short book, so I would consider looking at it at the library or in a bookstore first. It took me maybe 15 to 20 minutes to breeze through the whole thing.

Overall I enjoyed this graphic novel. It is done in a very unique style and is a fun blend of humor and horror. There are a couple times where it gets a bit confusing as to what is going on, but mostly the stories are well told. It is a very short book, so you might want to take a quick look through before purchasing. Recommended to those who love Spy vs Spy, the style of this book really reminds me of that.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Ebook Reading Challenge
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge