Monocyte #3 Confronts Life Itself: A Review

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

Creators/Writers: Menton3 and Kasra Ghanbari.

Artist: Menton3.

"Monocyte #3" is due to hit shelves this month and readers will find that the Destroyer of Worlds will have to face a strange incarnation of “life” itself in the form of Augustus resurrected. This issue features the origins of this new character searching for his brother. The creature he meets can even put any Cenobite encounter to shame. Lapis is a shadowy entity that found him. This demonic like force resides "within the spokes of a wheel," and this frame of reference is no doubt very important in the world of Monocyte.

Readers will find a special kind of fearful symmetry within this story. The tale told here is more like a very finely tuned graphic novel than a simple comic book. Some readers treat these the two nouns synonymously and others treat each term with a particular distinction. While small parts of the narrative may be tough to follow, the rest reads like a dark play that can also be performed on a Greco-Roman stage. The dialogue and art plays with literary allusions, Latin alchemy and the elixir of life.

Monocyte finished his affairs with the Olignostics last issue, but one question lingered: who was that individual held suspended in the chamber of the conduit? Very little was exchanged between him and Monocyte before the human was disintegrated. Co-writer Kasra Ghanbari reveals that he is the MIT scientist who created this world when he discovered Absolute Zero, a form of energy.

In the Antediluvian city, Filius Philosophorum, Beatrice, the leader of the Seraphim, and Marcus are in council. She invites the elder to look into her memories, her ars memoria, and this goth vixen holds a few truths that are too terrifying to realize.

In this look into her human past, the colour palette shifts to a more naturalistic tone. The photo-surrealistic style is a welcome change to the darkness found used in previous issues. Menton3's painting of normal looking Beatrice is as stunning as his goth version. And this comic's greatest strength is in offering a new visual treat in each successive issue. This time, the style of the third act keeps the reading of this brooding mythic tale fresh.

Fans will definitely have to start rereading the previous issues before tackling this latest release. In recapping these three issues altogether, the story reads like the rolling of two biblical narratives, namely the Great Flood (in the form of Monocyte) and Revelations. The tide of battle going on between the two races is not just a political one, but also spiritual. And those concepts are important in the two side-stories this issue.

The silent tale of rebellion by writer/artist Christopher Mitten by the fettered slaves is interestingly rabid and the symbolic story of hope by master impressionist painter, George Pratt certainly delivers a smile. To see how language evolves is not an easy tale to create with just three pages, and Pratt succeeds.

With only one issue left, there are plenty of questions remaining. Will Augustus find his brother? Will a charred world be devoid of life when Monocyte is done with it? Or, more importantly, will peace between the races ever be achieved? The world is in a mess, and the survivors of the human civilization have a lot of cleaning to do if it is to rise from the ashes.

If Augustus can do it with Moses casting the runes of fortune, then so can humanity. They just need a saviour, and that may well be Monocyte.

Overall: 9 out of 10.

| | |

Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA

Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis Email Subscription

Posted in: 2012,comic book release preview,graphic novels