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Review: “Monster & Madman” #3

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Review by – Bree Ogden

“Monster and Madman” finished its 3-issue arc this week with a terribly depressing ending, but the only ending that seems fit for the Monster. This unique story that details the life of Frankenstein’s Monster after Victor dies, gives us exactly what we subconsciously want and need from the mythology—for the Monster to be alone. Anything else would feel insincere.
monstermandman3
WRITTEN BY: Steve Niles
ART BY: Damien Worm
PUBLISHER: IDW
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: May 21, 2014

As the Monster patiently awaits his new bride, Niles and Worm show us snippets of the all-around repulsive situation he is in. The panels move swiftly through a montage of horror in which we see newspaper clippings about the Whitechapel murders, images of prostitutes being hacked up, and the Monster sitting alone as he must endure long, tedious procedures conducted by Jack.

Things settle into place when Jack swings open the door claiming that he now understands Frankenstein’s creation only to blow up into a frenzy again when he sets about to make a bride out of all the hacked-up prostitutes.

Although the Monster has been wary of Jack’s general character from the start he actively chooses not to pursue that negative train of thought. And even though all signs point to Jack as being the Ripper, it’s not until a slab of female body parts is sewn together, electrocuted into the Bride, and starts screaming about Jack being her murderer, that the Monster finally accepts that truth.

This issue moves considerably faster than the previous two. Issues #1 and #2 were a grand, slow burn buildup to the final pages in this issue that carry the full weight of horror when the Bride is awakened. And it’s then that the Monster and Jack’s lives are truly intertwined: the Whitechapel murders and The Bride become one, creating a mess that the Monster must clean up.

It’s a mess that probably could have been avoided had the Monster followed his initial feelings about Jack. This is a new path for Niles. He’s always written a highly sympathetic Monster. But the Monster that he and Worm create is the first one that’s truly fallible. They address the things we can’t deny: he’s a killer, his devotion can be somewhat skewed, and he will do just about anything to get his Bride. Now that he’s paired up with reality, we can clearly see this.

Theoretically, this comic is outstanding. The concept of mixing fiction’s greatest horror icon with reality’s greatest horror mystery is absolutely superb. It wasn’t until this final issue, however, that I saw how the execution of this plot was just as outstanding as the theoretical concept. It’s not just about mixing fiction and reality. It’s about using fiction to explain reality.

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[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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