Two things happened when I finished reading Monstress Volume 3:
I learned that I was simultaneously desperate to continue reading and scared that something awful would happen to Kippa. My fear for Kippa won and I’ve been putting off reading this Volume for months now as a result.
I bought Book One, the signed Barnes & Noble exclusive version, and it’s gorgeous! It even includes postcards, which feature some of Sana Takeda’s extraordinary artwork.
Just in case I wasn’t already too invested in Kippa’s wellbeing, this Volume begins by upping her adorability quotient to infinity by showing me baby Kippa! Because apparently my emotions are fair game. Aww!! Incidentally, toddler Maika is also a sweetheart.
Maika and Corvin are trying to find Kippa, who is being taken to the ‘doctor’. That sounds ominous. In their travels Maika winds up seeing her father.
While all of the adults are strategising for the coming war it’s Kippa who again softens the narrative with her ability to forgive someone who betrayed her.
“I can’t abandon people because they make mistakes – I would have to abandon myself.”
I’m not always entirely clear what’s happening at all times or whose side I should be on but I do know one thing: war is coming, people, and it’s not gonna be pretty.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Maika and Corvin make their way through a warped and lethal land in search of Kippa, who is faced with her own terrible monsters. But when Maika comes face to face with a stranger from her deep past, startling truths are uncovered, and at the center of it all lurks a dangerous conspiracy that threatens the Known World. Maika is finally close to getting all the answers she ever wanted, but at what price? With war on the horizon, a war no one wants to stop, whose side will Maika choose?
When we last saw Willa, she was on her way to Kansas City.
She’s decoded the treasure map in her father’s journal, even though she’s not entirely sure what it means, and it’s time to fix the world.
Meanwhile, Edison is in Chicago, where his story of giant bugs sounds like a lie to those who haven’t seen them before. It’s not.
All hell is breaking loose but it’s okay because Willa has an idea.
I wasn’t sure how to explain the wrap up of this series because everything I want to say includes spoilers. Thankfully Joe Henderson wrote this at the end of the Volume.
SKYWARD started out as the story of a father who is afraid of everything and a daughter who is fearless. It ends as a story of a woman who has experienced true fear and overcome it, becoming stronger for the experience.
On a broader level, this book is a story about fear and how humanity can overcome it. In today’s climate, I wanted to tell a story about hope and empathy, and the strength that comes from them. The world can never be fixed: it was always broken, just in a different way. All we can do is our best with what we’ve got. Try to make it the best world it can be. Approach life from hope, not fear.
After being enthralled by the first two Volumes I’m sorry to say that this final one didn’t really wow me. There’s some more action, romance and a blast from the past but the reveals and resolution were pretty underwhelming and I’m so disappointed that I can’t shout from the rooftops about how extraordinary the ending was. Maybe I expected too much after the build up of the first two Volumes.
Regardless, I still loved the artwork and am looking forward to seeing the movie when it’s released.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Willa’s faced terrifying storms, giant man-eating bugs, a deadly rebellion and a whole lot of heartbreak, but nothing can prepare her for this. It’s time for Willa to fulfill her father’s last request. Time to fix the world. But a revelation will rock Willa to her core and test her in ways she never imagined possible.
Monstress Volume 3: Haven is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.
Maika, Kippa and Ren have now made it to Tear Shed, a refugee camp.
Corvin is also there and he, Maika and Kippa have some awkward moments in a coffee shop.
Maika also meets Vihn Nem, the Royal Engineer of Pontus, who offers Maika and her friends sanctuary in exchange for her reactivating the Pontus Shield.
Lady Atena and Resak meet up with the Prime Minister and Admiral Brito to discuss politics, fake news and the potential threat of the Mother Superior.
While Maika and Zinn are working together to try to fix the Shield,
all hell is breaking out as the war has begun.
Kippa’s cute factor, which I didn’t think could cope with any additional adorability points, skyrocketed. I love her to bits and want to adopt her. Her loyalty, positivity and courage put most adults to shame.
I wasn’t quite as invested in the story during the first half of this Volume, as everyone seemed to be positioning themselves for the inevitable war, but I got sucked back in, only to find myself perched on the edge of a cliff at the end. If anything bad happens to Kippa I’m going to ugly cry, I just know it!
Once again the artwork was exceptional. I’m in awe of the details and just want to keep paging through each Volume. One of my favourite images in this Volume is this one,
but my absolute favourite is this awesomeness.
Yes, of course the location of my favourite illustration is a library! I can’t help myself where majestic libraries are concerned.
I expect a reread will help me to figure out the connections I’ve missed during this read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Maika Halfwolf has begun to unlock the mysteries of her past – but the challenges are only going. In this third volume of Monstress, collecting issues 13-18, Maika’s journey takes her to the neutral city of Pontus, where she hopes to find temporary refuge from her pursuers. Unfortunately, Pontus may not be as safe as Maika and her allies had hoped.
As the impending war between humans and Arcanics creeps ever closer, and powerful players fight for the chance to control her future, Maika finds she must work with Zinn, the Monstrum that lives inside her, in order to ensure their mutual survival. But even that alliance might not be enough to prepare Maika for the horrors to come.
If my rambling review after my reread of Volume 1 didn’t convince you that I finally understand what’s so amazing about Monstress, then this may. The first thing I did after I finished reading Volume 2 was to buy the signed B&N exclusive edition of Monstress Book One!
A Note About Spoilers: I can’t write this review without including some information about what happens in this Volume. I’ve tried to stay away from spoilery bits but our definitions of what constitutes spoilers may differ, so please read on with caution if you haven’t read this Volume yet.
Maika, Kippa and Ren begin this part of their story in Thyria, where Maika’s mother’s obsession with the Shaman-Empress is evident all over the home Maika barely remembers from her life before the desert. It is here that Kippa and Maika find a bone key, which they soon learn is from the Isle of Bones. They also still have the photograph and piece of an ancient mask Maika took when she escaped the Cumaean stronghold.
The unlikely trio soon board a pirate ship destined for the Isle of Bones, although Maika doesn’t know who she can trust. Before they leave, Kippa learns to drown swim and her instructor is perfect!
The Monstrum within Maika awakens during their voyage, hungry as usual. The pirate ship can only take them so far though and eventually it’s up to Maika, Kippa and Ren to try to make it through the mists surrounding the island. This is not creepy at all.
Nope, not one little bit. Eventually they make it to the Isle of Bones,
whose name is quite appropriate, I think. But because life wasn’t mean to be easy, they find out that they’re not alone.
It is here that some of the big questions I’ve had since the beginning are answered. We learn some more about Maika, her mother and her Monstrum, and of course the Volume ends on the edge of some cliffs, but the joke’s on you, cliffhangers! I have Volume 3 in my hands so I’m going to glide/fall off these cliffs quicker than you can say, “it’s time to hug Kippa because she’s just so darn adorable!”
I loved Seizi, Maika’s Goddess-Father, and I’ve decided I need someone to make a range of Monstress clothing because I desperately need some of Maika’s outfits in my wardrobe.
While I’m much more confident I know what’s happening in this Volume than I was after first reading Volume 1, I’m certain that an eventual reread will make me aware of further details in the story and illustrations.
I’m really enjoying figuring out who’s who and whether they’re going to help or hinder Maika as the story continues. While I was overwhelmed by the influx of characters I needed to get my head around in the first Volume I’m now looking forward to meeting some more. I’m loving the mythology and think this too will be clearer after a reread.
I only started reading graphic novels fairly recently and so far I’ve loved the intricacies of the storylines and the jaw dropping illustrations. It makes me wonder what other awesomeness I’ve been missing out on!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Maika Halfwolf is on the run from a coalition of forces determined to control or destroy the powerful Monstrum that lives beneath her skin. But Maika still has a mission of her own: to discover the secrets of her late mother, Moriko.
In this second volume of Monstress, collecting issues 7-12, Maika’s quest takes her to the pirate-controlled city of Thyria and across the sea to the mysterious Isle of Bones. It is a journey that will force Maika to reevaluate her past, present, and future, and contemplate whether there’s anyone, or anything, she can truly trust – including her own body.
Paper Girls Volume 4 is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.
A note about spoilers: major spoilers are included in this review about what’s happened previously in the series and what happens in this Volume. I’m not sure how long it will be before I make it to Volume 5 and don’t want to forget anything important so this is my summary. I’ve hidden pretty much everything I’ve got to say about this Volume. Regardless, if you’re not up to this Volume, please be really careful about opening anything spoilery.
When we last saw Tiffany she had arrived in Stony Stream in 2000, in a reality where Y2K actually happened, and it’s worse than anyone even imagined. While the rest of the Paper Girls are initially nowhere in sight, Tiffany is not alone.
The old-timers are also here, but quite a bit younger than they were in Volume 2 when we saw them last. Grand Father and Prioress are considering going nuclear.
Tiffany is trying to convince the police officer who wants to arrest her for looting (which she wasn’t doing. I swear!) that she’s actually from 1988 when she finally notices that they’re not alone.
Except it seems that for now Tiffany and I are the only ones who see the gigantic Transformers fighting in the background because the friendly neighbourhood police officer only sees smoke. Huh. Go figure.
Meanwhile, Erin, Mac and KJ are at the mall. A couple of looters fill them in about the millennium bug.
Pretty big, apparently. At least our girls are all in the same time right now, even if they’re not all together.
Doc from Volume 3 mentioned that the black device the girls have been carrying around was registered to Frankie Tomatah, which was clearly a pseudonym. At the time Erin thought that name seemed familiar but before she could think about it any further all hell broke loose in 11,706 BCE. Now she has a moment to check the comics page, which Naldo and Heck from Volume 1 also did, and figures out there’s a clue there. Great work, Erin!
It turns out that Frankie Tomatah is a comic strip written by C. Spachefski and thanks to the good ol’ White Pages, Erin, Mac and KJ pay her a house call. It seems she’s been expecting them.
Charlotte explains about the Battle of the Ages. The old-timers are enemy fighters, part of a group of the first generation born after time travel was invented, who think it’s immoral to interfere with the timeline, even if you’re trying to fix it. Naldo, Heck and others like them are defying their ancestors to try to fix the timeline regardless. Okay, that’s making more sense now. Oh, and in case you forgot, the old-timers have amnesia rays. Of course they do. Although I’m not sure if I trust Charlotte or anyone other than our four Paper Girls.
Things outside remain pretty chaotic.
Tiffany wanders off to find her parents and instead finds Chris, her future husband.
I love all of the twists in this series! I got one massive surprise in this Volume when I learned Grand Father is actually Jahpo. This is incredible!
Also, future Tiffany is all kinds of awesome!
In the last Volume the bag of newspapers made a great pillow. In this Volume they prove their usefulness in another way.
I love all of this time travel and not knowing who to trust. Although a group of girls from 1988 somehow have the fate of the entire world in their hands, they’re about as clueless as I am and I adore their reactions as they attempt to navigate all the weirdness. I can’t wait to read Volume 5 so I can check out the future!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The mind-bending, time-warping adventure from Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang continues, as intrepid newspaper deliverer Tiffany is launched from the prehistoric past into the year 2000! In this harrowing version of our past, Y2K was even more of a cataclysm than experts feared, and the only person who can save the future is a 12-year-old girl from 1988.
A note about spoilers: Once again I don’t know how to talk about this Volume without recapping Volume 2 or telling you about this one. I’m hiding anything I consider a potentially significant spoiler but please proceed with caution if you haven’t read this series. I’m excited about what happens and need to tell someone.
When we last saw Tiffany, Mac and Erin, they had just been reunited with KJ, who was MIA throughout Volume 2. The trio had spent some time in 2016, where they met a future Erin who was all grown up and still working for the same newspaper. They also met future future Erin, or Erin III, as I called her. She had a red backpack, was from way into the future and, yep, she was a clone. The old-timers followed our trio to 2016, travelling in style, and we met some huge creepy crawlies.
So, our four Paper Girls have finally been reunited but they’re not in 2016 anymore and they haven’t returned to 1988 either. Here’s the biggest clue that they’re, um, in another time entirely. ➡️
In the middle of the night Mac is contemplating her last cigarette when she encounters Wari, a warrior girl with face paint and interesting taste in jewellery, and her baby, Jahpo, who is very huggable. Fortunately Erin swiped the translator from Erin III in 2016 so the girls can communicate with the people in this time.
But warrior girl isn’t even the most dangerous encounter of the night. There’s also Claws to deal with and I doubt I’m the only one thinking the whole poking its tongue out routine isn’t a cheeky gesture.
Okay, I have enough information now so I’m calling it. Our girls are in the past. Way, way back in time. We’ve also seen what appears to be a shooting star, but in this series we don’t wish on them because they’re usually not shooting stars at all. Usually it means our girls have company. Company comes in the form of Doctor Qanta Braunstein, Project Leader at AppleX.
Something tells me she’s not from this time, which apparently is 11,706 BCE (just a teensy bit further into the past than I thought). Doc thinks that maybe she invented time travel, so this entire thing could be her fault. Also it turns out she’s from 2055. Although the Doc is not the girls’ only company.
When I was almost positive there weren’t any more surprises left, Mac and KJ came across this.
This fourth dimensional object allows you to see the future when you touch it, which results in KJ seeing, amongst other things, this.
Woohoo! I can’t wait!
I love that a bag of newspapers have made their way across time with the girls. Apparently, in addition to containing comics, they also make a good pillow. I really enjoy the humour in this series. It appears that no matter what time you’re in or from, your software will always require an update at the most inconvenient time possible.
I wasn’t sure about this series originally but I’m so glad I kept reading. It’s really beginning to come together for me and I’m figuring out bits and pieces I wondered about previously, like the origin of the hockey stick with the warning carved into it. Erin sent that through one of the folding (floating time hole) thingamajigs while the girls were in 11,706 BCE. It’s always fun when you feel rewarded for sticking with a series.
Then right near the end of the Volume this happened
and now Tiffany is in an alternate 2000 where Y2K happened, and who knows where the rest of the Paper Girls are!
I loved the cliffhanger at the end of this Volume and am so glad I don’t have to wait to begin Volume 4.
Content warnings include a slur against Jewish people (this is challenged!) and mention of sexual assault.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series from Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang continues, as newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac and Tiffany finally reunite with their long-lost friend KJ in an unexpected new era, where the girls must uncover the secret origins of time travel … or risk never returning home to 1988.
A note about spoilers: I don’t know how to review this Volume without including them, especially since I’m using this review to remind myself of what I already know when I make it to Volume 3. Please proceed with caution if you haven’t already read this Volume.
Tiffany, Mac and Erin had a really weird All Saints morning in 1988 and now their friend KJ is missing. Or maybe they are because here they are, standing in front of Erin (same Erin, but all grown up) in 2016. Cue The Twilight Zone theme right about now.
Meanwhile, the old-timers in 1988 seem to think they know what happened. Our girls have been “timelined”, same place, different time. Except they could be “anywhere in time” so that doesn’t exactly narrow things down for the old-timers.
The Cardinal is the lady in the stormtrooper cosplay, the guy with the white beard is Grand Father, whose mother was born in 2016, and the one on the left? Yeah, that’s a pterodactyl!
Then, as if two Erins weren’t enough, a third one shows up.
This one actually seems to know what’s going on and I’m guessing this is probably not all that unusual of a conversation for a Uber driver and their passenger to be having.
This creature shows up. He’s a gigantic tardigrade.
Then there’s this maggot.
Okay, so the massive creepy crawlies aren’t the prettiest. But at least this happens.
Yes, please Erin III. Please give me all the answers.
We learn the Erin I’m calling Erin III (red backpack Erin) is actually a clone and she knows Naldo and Uncle (?) Heck, the teenagers from another time that helped our four original paper girls in the first Volume. Although when both of the new Erins are telling our paper girls different things, who are they supposed to trust?
We may not know much about the old-timers (or anyone, really) yet but we now know that old-timers travel in some serious style. Check this awesomeness out!
We even get a glimpse of the future in this Volume and while it looks pretty interesting, it appears global warming has followed through on at least one of its promises.
While I’d much rather read a book than keep up with what’s happening in the world of politics I did appreciate the not so subtle political jabs included in this Volume.
Raising all sorts of fun Back to the Future-ish quandaries and space-time continuum conundrums, including what to do if you find out you don’t exist in the future, I found this second Volume a lot easier to follow than the first. I’m now keen to continue the series, despite and maybe even because it raises interesting and potentially scary questions, like what your kid self would think of the adult you became and what you’d want to tell your kid self if you met them now.
Content warnings include some graphic violence and mention of mental health and racism.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
After surviving the strangest night of their lives in the Cleveland suburb of Stony Stream, intrepid young newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac, and Tiffany find themselves launched from 1988 to a distant and terrifying future … the year 2016.
What would you do if you were suddenly confronted by your 12-year-old self? 40-year-old newspaper reporter Erin Tieng is about to find out in this action-packed story about identity, mortality, and growing older in the 21st century.
Saga Volume 9 is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category and my (slow but steady) Hugo readathon is the reason why I started binge reading the series last week.
In the process I’ve met new friends, lost a lot of new friends and fallen in love with a galaxy I didn’t even know existed until recently.
Huh. Well, that sounds ominous.
The Will and Ianthe [hiss!] have arrived on the planet where we last saw Alana, Marko, Hazel, Friendo, Petrichor, Ghüs, Sir Robot, Squire, Upsher and Doff, who are all together aboard the treehouse rocketship. Hazel and Squire now act like they’re siblings, Petrichor and Sir Robot now act like … something else, Upsher and Doff are still trying to secure the story of their lives, and Ghüs is playing babysitter, remaining cute no matter what he does.
See? What did I tell you?! Cutie pie!
The treehouse rocketship lands on Jetsam, home of our tenacious tabloid reporter and photographer. Upsher and Doff have offered our favourite family a deal that seems too good to be true but they’re not the only ones who may be considering it.
Sir Robot reminded me why I don’t completely trust him and elsewhere, Agent Gale resurfaces; both men have their own agendas. So many competing agendas in this series! Most of which aim to harm my our favourite family!
The past catches up with a few of the characters and it’s Saga, so not everyone is going to come out of it alive and those that are left to pick up the pieces are changed. So am I.
Anyone can kill you, but it takes someone you know to really HURT you. It takes someone you love to break your heart.
The details in the illustrations keep delighting me. Squire’s ducky baby sling has now been converted into a backpack! It was a nice thing to notice in between all of the times my heart was shattered.
Anticipation and dread aren’t opposites, just different versions of the same game.
This is the first cliffhanger I’ve been involved in where I don’t have the luxury of immediately picking up the next Volume and I chose one hell of a time to be stuck on this damn cliff wanting to curl up in the foetal position.
Seriously, I think the author and illustrator of this series are going to need to start paying my therapy bills! I know we’re at war here but you’re only allowed to kill off people I don’t like from now on, okay?
So, until I get the opportunity to continue this series I’m going to pretend I wasn’t traumatised by this Volume. Instead I’m going to remember this brief respite from danger, when fun existed and even those in whatever galaxy this is knew how to reference Jaws.
Maybe in the next Volume Gwendolyn, Sophie and Lying Cat (who were physically absent during this Volume) will find a way to make everything miraculously okay again? Hey, a girl can hope!
Content warnings include continued graphic sexual content and violence, physical abuse and mention of death by suicide (although I suspect it was more likely to have been murder).
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The multiple Eisner Award-winning series returns with a spacefaring adventure about fake news and genuine terror. Get ready for the most shocking, most impactful Saga storyline yet.
Hazel’s mother, Alana, is from Landfall, a “sci-fi wonderland”, and her father, Marko, is from Wreath, Landfall’s moon, a “magical fantasy realm”, but nothing’s feeling overly magical or wonderful right now because my heart was unceremoniously sliced open (multiple times) by the author and illustrator during the last Volume. Not satisfied with their previous attempts to destroy my emotional integrity, they commenced with the agony as soon as this Volume began.
It’s been two months since we’ve last seen our favourite family and I cannot even imagine the hell they’ve been through in the meantime, or the hell that they’re about to endure. I really can’t. This series is definitely not one to shy away from the really big issues.
So, we’re on a planet called Pervious travelling to the Badlands and although we’re here for more heartache, at least they have pretty multicoloured zebras there to remind us there’s good in the world too. After all, we need this reminder when we discover Dung People are also found here. So, without further ado, meet Button.
Petrichor and Hazel have the discussion about their bodies in this Volume that I’ve been waiting for and it was handled so well. I love that the diversity of this series includes a transgender woman. Petrichor has intrigued me since I met her and she’s finally given a chance to really shine in this Volume. No matter what she does from this point forward I’ll have her back.
A Volume of Saga is not complete unless we get to meet some new people. In this Volume Petrichor and Sir Robot meet up with a family – Kidd, Paw and Maw,
while Alana, Marko and Hazel meet Endwife.
Given the sensitive nature of why we’re on Pervious in the first place I didn’t expect to see Hazel’s younger brother, Kurti, who died in utero at the end of the last Volume. However, due to some amazing and apparently quite dangerous magic called Forecasting, Alana, Marko and Hazel all get to interact with who he could have been. It’s beautiful but it’s also heartbreaking. This scene pretty much broke me.
In a flashback of The Will’s childhood we meet his Uncle Steve, A.K.A. The Letter, and his chameleon sidekick. It’s also pretty clear now why The Will and his sister became Freelancers.
Speaking of The Will, he initially met the person I now love to hate more than anyone else right now during the previous Volume. I now know this woman as Ianthe and while I despise her, I will say this for her; this woman travels in style!
After not seeing any of them in the previous Volume we learn that Upsher and Doff have met up with Ghüs, Squire and Friendo. They’re in the vicinity of a Dread Naught, which could potentially help nourish them and keep Friendo off the menu. If only Dread Naughts weren’t invisible until the day they die. Except, robots can see their insides regardless because … robot, I guess.
I love that D. Oswald Heist’s books and quotes keep popping up in this series. Between those and The Will’s drug induced hallucinations I get to see characters I thought I’d never see again. It reminds me of Chris Carter saying that no one ever really dies on The X-Files and gives me hope that I may be fortunate enough to get a glimpse of some of my favourite departed Saga characters. That means you, Izabel and the original Kurti.
The illustrations are extraordinary in this series. They manage to go from breathtakingly beautiful to carnage and back again seamlessly. One of the main reasons I’m so chained emotionally, for better or worse, to so many of Saga’s characters is because I’ve seen their strengths, vulnerabilities and traumas written all over their faces or whatever they have instead.
I love the small details that allude to previous Volumes; at the end of this Volume Hazel is wearing the bracelet that Jabarah gave to Alana in Volume 7 and I couldn’t decide if I needed to smile, cry or both when I noticed this. Jabarah gave this to Alana during her pregnancy with Hazel’s brother. In Jabarah’s culture it’s worn until the day the child is born. 😢
Despite all of the trauma I’ve witnessed while reading this series I always find moments of hope in the darkest times
and when even hope feels like a dream, at least there’s plenty of cute smooshed in between the pain.
And when I think I’ve seen every creature this galaxy has to offer I turn the page to find this!
I adore this series!!!
Content warnings include continued graphic sexual content and violence, miscarriage, late term abortion and a dead dog made into a rug, discussion about suicide, child abuse and torture.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
After the traumatic events of the War for Phang, Hazel, her parents, and their surviving companions embark on a life-changing adventure at the westernmost edge of the universe.
After the cliffhanger at the end of Volume 6 I couldn’t wait to start Volume 7. At this point in the series I don’t think I can say much without accidentally spoiling previous Volumes so if you haven’t read them yet you may want to avert your eyes now.
So, Hazel is five years old now and has finally been reunited with both of her parents. I don’t care what she says; she’s still adorable to me, even when she drools in her sleep.
This kid is even adorable when she’s delivering bad news.
Anyway, joining Hazel on board the treehouse rocketship at the beginning of this Volume are Alana, Marko, Izabel, Prince Robot IV Sir Robot and Petrichor, who we met in Volume 6. Hazel and Petrichor have both lived with keeping the truth of their bodies a secret so I’m interested to see how this plays out in the future.
Due to technical difficulties with the rocketship this motley crew wind up on Phang. Remember Phang? Where Sophie was born and lived (briefly) before she was sold into sex slavery?
Of course the war between Landfall and Wreath has even made it to a comet, useful to both sides because of its resources. Never mind its people, who have suffered immeasurably as a result.
Meanwhile, Sophie (who is her very own brand of adorable in glasses), Lying Cat and Gwendolyn are together on Wreath, Marko’s home moon.
Actually, no, I’m not. P.S. I’ve missed you, Lying Cat! Gwendolyn has a meeting with Gale and his henchmen in an “exotic” location.
Back on Phang, we meet Kurti, another cutie whose name means “sunshine!”, and his extended family. How can there be so much cute in a series that has so much bloodshed?!
Also on Phang is a cute little boar called Bootstraps and The March (who aren’t as cute). Petrichor meets a bluecap, who “are planted in places of conflict to remember tales of battle”
and we learn what a Timesuck is. Big picture spoiler ahead!
The Will and Sweet Boy briefly meet Velour, Gwendolyn’s wife in their search for Gwendolyn, Sophie and Lying Cat.
There is so much going on in this Volume and I have no idea how anyone who hasn’t read the series from the beginning could hope to catch up at this point. On a personal note, we lost my favourite character of the entire series so far in this Volume
but they were certainly not the only ones in the running for my Top 10 favourites who didn’t make it. Falling in love with allegedly fictional characters and then watching on helplessly as the author and illustrator unceremoniously slaughter them is not cool. Not cool at all.
Content warnings include continued graphic sexual content and violence.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
From the worldwide bestselling team of Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan, “The War for Phang” is an epic, self-contained Saga event! Finally reunited with her ever-expanding family, Hazel travels to a war-torn comet that Wreath and Landfall have been battling over for ages. New friendships are forged and others are lost forever in this action-packed volume about families, combat and the refugee experience.
Schizanthus Nerd 