Monstress vol. 8: Inferno

Vol. 7 in this series did something no other volume had before:  End on a cliffhanger.  Kippa had forced her way into Maika’s mind, while the latter’s awakened body was inflicting all sorts of chaos in the real world, in order to repair the damage done there.  That was a hopeful note to end on and implied an overall positive direction for the events of vol. 8.

Never let it be said that writer Marjorie Liu and artist Sana Takeda want to do things the easy way, though.  As I was expecting more of the same fantasy action, complicated political plotting, and skilled development of messy characters, that wasn’t exactly what I got here.  Without giving too much away, the creators decided to uproot the setting of the series into a much less familiar place this time out.  It’s one that has great significance to the story, fills in some gaps in our knowledge of the world, and one that still can’t help feel like a massive step away from everything that’s been set up in the previous volumes.

So it’s a good thing that Liu and Takeda are doing this in vol. 8, after we’ve all had enough time to get invested in the world and characters they’ve created.  That investment helps get the reader over the change in setting while also demanding that they work to understand what’s going on here.  Which isn’t that hard as the creators clearly know how to make their characters’ goals relatable and understandable, even when someone like Maika is only a head of her normal self here. *rimshot*  It’s all a long way of saying that I did still enjoy this volume of “Monstress” even as I’m equal parts excited and relieved that we’ll be getting back to its familiar setting and cast in vol. 9.