Miss Medusa's Monstrous Menagerie #1

Miss Medusa’s Monstrous Menagerie #1

Unlikely Heroes Studios 2021

Written by Paul Hanley

Illustrated by Matt Frank & Paul Hanley

Colour Flats by Rob Cloma

Lettered by Matt Krotzer

It's 1963, and having a carnival of 666 monsters ain't the draw it used to be.

Miss Medusa's Monstrous Menagerie is one of the last two Mythic shows left in the U.S., trucking from one backwater jerkass town to the next. It's dirty work, and sometimes you barely make the nut, but America's still the land of plenty (of rubes). For this season at least, Miss Medusa's hiring, and you can still run away and join the circus. (Mythics, Cryptids, Gods, and Atomics only, please. Humans need not apply.)

Right off the bat I am going to say we just don’t see enough books from Unlikely Heroes Studios. This issue is phenomenal thanks to how well it is being written and illustrated and the concept and placement, era wise, are perfectly done. I’m thoroughly chuffed with the introduction to the carnival and some of its denizens. I think that introducing Sharon and seeing this through her introduction as well was a stroke of genius as it really takes us to the heart of the carnival as we see how things really work. The balancing act of having so many different types of personalities and beings and Gina’s ability to handle them well it’s interesting to say the least.

I am absolutely loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does this magnificent job in establishing their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the characters, this world and the story in such an utterly marvellous manner.

I have to say I am mightily impressed with the way that we see this being structured as well as how we see the layers within the story begin to emerge, grow and strengthen. I like how we see the layers opening up the myriad of avenues to explore and how they add such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

The interiors here are absolutely bloody gorgeous! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of work in the attention to detail is mindbogglingly brilliant. The creativity and imagination that is on display here bewitches the reader in the scope of what’s possible. The use of backgrounds we see as they enhance and expand the moments perfectly as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and toes within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show an exceptional understanding of how colour works and how to maximise its effects. Plus the way we see the colour applied is again brilliantly rendered.

There are few times when I’m in awe of a story and this is one of them. The concept is superb and to see such a wide array of species that are traditionally feared finding their own way in the world on their own terms should appeal to a vast audience. That someone who considers themselves an outcast or outside the societal norms or if you simply enjoy an incredibly well written story with complex characterisation and sheerly bloody brilliant interiors you are going to enjoy this.