Monstress vol. 6: The Vow

I mentioned last time that vol. 5 presented a compelling argument for re-reading the previous volumes in the series before I read the next one.  That was because while “Warchild” was ultimately a great read, it also took me a while to get up to speed with remembering all the members of the supporting cast and the many, many subplots this series has been juggling for a while now.  In case you missed the podcast this week, where I praised this title’s worldbuilding in comparison to “Die’s,” I did get around to doing that, even as it took me a lot more time than I expected.  Which really wasn’t that much of an issue in the end as the refresher course allowed me to jump right back into the main story without missing a beat.

Mind you, this is after writer Marjorie Liu and artist Sana Takeda spend two issues with Maika and Kippa as they recover from the horrors of the Battle for Ravenna.  How do they do that?  By talking about more pleasant memories in the two-issue “Talk-Stories” miniseries.  While it seemed odd for this series to be solicited as a miniseries when it’s by the main creative team, it makes sense after reading it.  These are very much spotlight issues for Maika and Kippa that tell relatively self-contained stories.  This is in contrast to a regular issue of “Monstress” which advances the main plot and several sub-plots forward without fail every time.

The first talk-story has Kippa telling us about the most delicious meal she ever had, which was with her half-sister and parents when they were still in the refugee camp.  Getting the ingredients for the meal, and the act of eating it is a struggle in itself, but the result is very much worth it.  Even though there is some gut-wrenching sadness about Kippa’s half-sister in the course of, and at the end of the story.  It arguably makes this story more of a downer than it should be, but it wouldn’t be “Monstress” otherwise.

Maika’s story is more wholly uplifting as it takes place back when she was a child, just before she attended the Federation’s military academy.  She didn’t want to go, which is why she makes plans with her arcanic friend Areka to escape to an island off of Thyria that nobody ever goes to.  The escape plan goes badly at first — a lightning squid is involved — but the end result is that Maika and Areka wind up having the BEST VACATION EVER!!!  There’s some lesson-learning in the end, but with the lessons being administered by someone who is known as the Former Consort to the Siren Queen of Thyria, then you know they’re going to be good ones.

With that, we’re back to the main story and the Battle of Ravenna has left both sides in a stalemate.  This gives the Federation time to lick their wounds, Makia to have some “quality” father-daughter time, the Cumaea’s Reverend Mother a chance to excavate what the bomb in Arum revealed, and for the Warlord and her wife Tuya to… reconcile after the latter stole the former’s air fleet in a failed attempt to take out a lilium refinery near the fighting at Ravenna.  It’s during this reconciliation that a very long-awaited reunion takes place and it’s every bit as awkward as you’d expect it to be.

It’s also pretty thrilling too as it represents a rare moment in this series where Maika is actually at an advantage over the people she’s meeting with.  This continues on through her encounter with the Warlord, and another family member we haven’t seen in a while as well.  It’s a virtual Halfwolf family reunion and seeing the bad blood and old grievances addressed is just as entertaining as the mending of fences and seeing old family members get to know each other again.

While this business forms the crux of vol. 6, there’s also plenty of other stuff to hold a reader’s interest as well.  Maika’s father is still scheming, and this time he’s not able to foresee all of the complications awaiting his plans.  Yvette Lo Lim is also skulking around the sidelines of the story, ready with an awful new weapon to use against the arcanics and half-breeds.  Kippa is also here, though here actions here mainly serve to lighten the tone as opposed to (metaphorically) rip your heart out in comparison to the previous volume.  Best of all, is seeing the change in Agent of the Dusk Court, Corvin.  Where he initially appeared to be a confident enforcer of the court’s will, now he’s much more unsure about his role in the world.  He’s got reasons to defy the court and seeing him go about doing that makes him a much more interesting character now.

Takeda illustrates all of this with magnificent attention to detail.  Whether it’s a sun-kissed island hideaway or the ruins of a battlefield, all of the scenes are rendered in a meticulous way that always catches the eye.  The same goes for her characters who emote magnificently under her pen.  Special mention here goes to her depictions of the Wolf Queen who maintains a regal composure for most of her scenes in the volume, and a very “un-regal” disposition for the rest.  That’s more of a “you’ll know it when you see it” situation, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.

Nor would I want to spoil what happens to Maika over the course of the volume, save to say that there’s more uplift to it than you’d expect from the series based on its history.  It’s been thrilling to watch her character evolve over the course of this title’s run and I really do want to emphasize how much re-reading the previous five volumes helped in not just being able to enjoy this one without feeling lost, but my overall enjoyment of the series as a whole.  “Monstress” is a series that is dense with worldbuilding and character and it’s all working towards a greater point.  The series demands a lot from the reader, but the end result has been worth it so far.