Created by Greg Wright and Ken Lamug
Written by Greg Wright
Illustrated and Lettered by Ken Lamug
Editor in Chief Travis McIntire
Art Director Joshua Werner
Managing Editor Trico Lutkins
For Source Point Press
During my time doing reviews I don’t think I come across enough solid children books. It’s maybe half that I’m old and I don’t really read a lot of children’s books, maybe half the fact that the under thirteen market isn’t as desirable as it used to be. Either way I think solid children’s comics are instrumental to ensuring those kids grow up loving comics the way we do as adults. Often times writers don’t understand that depth of story and character doesn’t have to come at the expense of creativity. Luckily Wright has not only found the potential in writing a children’s comic, he has done it without watering down the characters or the story.
Monstrous has an interesting premise; Dr. Frankenstein and his monster take different paths after the monsters creation and they end up enemies. Dr. Frankenstein started to build robots instead of monsters and Frankenstein’s monster started to make more monsters like himself. This world that Wright and Lamug built is perfectly suited for a world full of adventures where robots and monsters can be bad or good and assist in making a ripe landscape of fun for the protagonists Ilsa and Gruber. Ilsa is a young girl seeking revenge for the murder of her father and Gruber is an Anthropomorphism rabbit fugitive running from Dr. Frankenstein’s robots. The two make an unlikely pair but Ilsa’s hard head and determination is what leads them down the road of adventure. Ilsa’s a very in depth character that’s important for young ladies who read comics, children deserve strong and determined characters to read about, and Ilsa is that and more.
Lamug has an art style that reminds me of something but for some reason I can’t put my finger on it. The character design of Ilsa reminds me of something out of the sixties, plain black dress with white hair band and sash; while Gruber sort of looks like a bum in a raggedy shirt. The character design isn’t the only thing that stands out, the world has a touch of old world style mixed with a steam punk style that is part of the reason Dr. Frankenstein’s robots look so cool. All of Lamug’s creations are original and fun and really bring the world of Monstrous to life.
Monstrous is a Source Point Press book and can be found at the Source Point Press website, Comixology, and Drive Thru Comics.
