Monocyte #2 and the Dark Arts: A Comic Book Review and Preview

*full disclosure: an early preview copy was provided by the publishers.

**spoiler alert.

Writers/creators Menton3 and Kasra Ghanbari have certainly surpassed themselves in issue #2 of "Monocyte." In the sneak preview of the upcoming issue, due on shelves Dec 28th, the meat of the vicious narrative is being stitched with precision. The devil-may-care Monocyte may well be more than just a servant of Death. He is the key to a greater cosmic force that the Olignostics fear. But to unlock it will not come easy for them.

Meanwhile, in the Antedeluvian city, the Filius Philosophorum, the Green Man sits contemplative. Even this other race has something to fear about this relentless destroyer of worlds. That is the title that Monocyte has respectably earned. When he considers all the carnage that he has wrought so far, including the destruction of the Olignostics city’s main power source, fueled by what may be an Angel, he starts questioning all that had transpired, including the end results...

This scenario may well be an allusion to the Kobayashi Maru. There are no clear winners in this eternal war the Antedeluvians and Olignostics are in. Since they cannot die, just what will they become? The human fodder they are using will eventually expire. Readers will have to wait until February for the next issue.

This bi-monthly series is now at a halfway point, and where this tale will go next can only have readers guessing. When Monocyte is revealed to be the "Key," just what exactly is he the key to? And which character is going to be the Gatekeeper?

Issue #2 reads almost like “The Book of Gates,” an Ancient Egyptian funerary text where the deceased is led through a series of doorways, with each hour (the gate) guarded by a divine force. Only the guardians can grant safe passage to the next one. In so passing, the individual will eventually enter the Hall of Judgment, meet Re, the sun god, and be granted a chance at rebirth. That’s the basis of that funerary text. As for where the comic book will go (i.e. which “hour” Monocyte has reached or if the finale will be about a rebirth) that is uncertain. The writing certainly has a mythic quality to it, and that is what makes this mini-series such an engaging read.

The artwork also gets better. The beauty of issue #2 is the wider range of colours and artistic expression. From a startling use of cupid pink in Riley Rossmo’s cover—which amazingly works to create a sense of schizophrenia—to a scarlet red in Alan Hubbard and Chris Newman’s side-story—to represent splattered blood—the limitations do not end there. Bill Sienkiewicz’s contribution with three simple ghastly, skull-like, faces can be the stuff of nightmares; it’s not a pretty picture to wake up to.

The work from writer/artist Ben Templesmith ("Fell," "30 Days of Night," "Wormwood") and newcomers, Hubbard and Newman only gives more side-stories to help bring life to this alien world that Menton3 and Kasra Ghanbari created. Issue #3 will feature a story by Sienkiewicz and George Pratt.

Praise is also coming from other creators too. Steve Niles ("30 Days of Night") says, “Monocyte is a beautiful excursion into the belly of the beast. I highly recommend taking the trip. Hell has never read so well or looked so stunning."

The comic's fan page is here:

Monocyte on Facebook

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