See that sexy woman there on that cover, outrageous armor barely covering her shapely frame as she holds her gigantic weapon behind her back and licks her lips in anticipation of the next vicious battle? They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but this cover by Derrick Chew is a perfect summary of everything a reader will find beneath its covers. Want to see some spectacular action and violence, as the cover seems to promise? This book has that. Want to see some costumes that are kind of a cross between Jack Kirby and anime art? This book has that, too. And want to see a bit of female breast peeking out from the edges of costumes or fully on display? This book has an abundance of that as well.
I loved this book for the creators’ sheer, uninhibited passion for the material it presents. Some stories are obscure, some are weird, and some are rather beautiful. But all display a true commitment to pure creativity, to the sense that creators are best when they’re creating work that’s true to their souls and that makes them happy, that – as editor Dave Elliott says in his introduction – allow the creators to share their dreams with everybody else, unafraid, uninhibited and in all their wonderfully-reproduced glory.
Because make no mistake: this isn’t one of those anthology comics in which there are a few talented creators and a bunch of people just finding their way. The work of the people in Monster Massacre II is professional, top-notch and thoroughly intriguing. Even if some of the stories don’t quite work for me (I’m probably not the audience for the story of space cats fighting Transformers-style robots), the overall package is fun, breezy and full of gorgeous art and story. Who doesn’t like to read about vicious warrior women in strange and revealing outfits fighting evil creatures?
‘Nuff said – but if you’d like more help deciding if you should shell out 23 bucks for this book, here are a few images that might help…
Jason loves women who carry swords. Follow him on Twitter and Tumblr. His upcoming book The American Comic Book Chronicles: the 1970s is now available for pre-order on Amazon.