Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steampunk, Monstress tells the story of a teenage girl named Maika who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both.

Entertainment Weekly praised Monstress as “one of Image Comics’ most imaginative and daring new series” and dubbed it the “Best New Original Series” in their year-end “Best Comics of 2015” list.

Amazon also named Monstress Vol 1: Awakening as its top graphic novel of 2016, and Monstress was the only comic book to appear on their “Top 100 Books Of 2016” list.

Collects MONSTRESS #1-6.

Reviews

“Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening is one of the most visually and tonally striking books released so far this year. Liu and Takeda throw readers into their world with no half-measures, a somber and thrilling saga of how even the suffocating inhumanity of prejudice and cruelty cannot stifle the stubborn persistence of love and life.” – Paste Magazine

“Gaudy beauty and extravagant horror twine around each other, as elegant as their subjects’ sinuous hair and garments, in the remarkable comic Monstress.” – NPR

“She gave women that space: a beautiful, terrible, postapocalyptic world of their own — one modeled in part on the stories her grandparents told her about WWII–era China — in which they live, fight, love, die, and strive to overcome (or enforce) horrific institutions and ingrained prejudices, all sans dudes.” – Vulture

“This combination of fantastic intrigue and common impulses gives the world that Monstress creates solidity and weight. It feels somehow real because tethered to recognizable — if complexly explored — motivations.” – LA Review of Books

Barnes & Noble: Monstress Is a Dark Fantasy About the Struggle to Find What’s True

Pop Verse: Monstress: To quote the poets… we’re fucked

Pixelated Geek: Review, Monstress Volume 1

Kirkus: Monstress Vol 1: Awakening