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Thread: Monstress

  1. #31
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    I'm often at the edge of my seat and how everything will come along especially with the family together. Still waiting to see Maika's mother death to see what happened.

  2. #32
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    Here’s my recap of Monstress #34.

    The story starts with the Wolf Queen (WQ) attacking Zinn. She was poisoned last issue by the human/Cumaean gas that drove Arcanics insane and now she is raging against Zinn and unleashing her full (and very considerable) power. The Warlord tries to stop her, getting between her mother and Zinn. The WQ screams at the Warlord for interfering and smashes her aside. The Warlord reluctantly shoots the WQ, who laughs at her and seems to heal almost instantly. The WQ turns on the WL, saying “how such a weakling sprang from my womb I will never know.” Zinn attacks and the WL and Maika are attacked, at the same time, by a group of insane Arcanics who have found their way to the battle site.

    Tuya suddenly appears, shooting some of the mob and saving the Warlord. The WL doesn’t want her help but Tuya says to the WL that “Arcanics need you. I need you. I can’t let you die just yet.” Maika, who is fighting nearby, hears this and looks very angry/sad. In that instant she is attacked from behind by the WQ, but Zinn gets to her first and covers/protects her and tells her that “We cannot allow our hearts to break us,” an apparent allusion to how Maika is feeling in that moment (i.e., her reaction to Tuya’s words to the WL).

    Corvin appears on the scene and uses his shield to protect Maika from the WQ, but he is very quickly close to being overwhelmed by the WQ’s power. Maika pulls the mask fragments out of her bag and prepares to put them on. Zinn warns her against it, saying “we cannot hold the power” but Maika feels they need to try because, otherwise, the WQ is simply too powerful for them.

    She puts on the mask fragments and is almost immediately overwhelmed by the voices of the old gods. But then the Shaman Empress appears and surrounds/protects Zinn and Maika, silencing the voices of the gods and saying of Maika/Zinn “their purpose is not yet revealed, their union is not yet complete.”

    When we return to the real world, we see that Zinn is covering Maika completely like a suit of armor. Zinn is still calling for the “Beloved” and Maika tells him to “shut up and fight.” At this point, they are still speaking in two separate voices. Corvin is down, his shield sputtering. Kippa comes running, calling to Maika to say “I’m coming.” Her eyes are glowing golden and through her special perception, she sees Maika/Zinn and the WQ fighting. The WQ, interestingly, has many eyes and bears a distinct resemblance to the old gods.

    In Aurum, the Doctor is meditating when he senses that Maika has put on the mask. He is surprised but delighted. He touches a button on his artificial leg and disappears, perhaps because he moves so fast. Also in Aurum, the Mother Superior and the Inquisitrix, Gull, are on their knees, moaning, feeling the effects of the mask. The Inquisitrix tells the MS to listen to the song and “tell me whose voice you hear.” The cube they were investigating (that contains another mask fragment) is glowing and shooting a purple beam into the sky. The chief scientist (who is remarkably unconcerned about the state of her superiors) comments that she “can only imagine what has awakened inside the box.”

    The WQ and M/Z continue to fight, the WQ saying that the mask is “our birthright”, cursing the Shaman Empress, and saying she will tear the mask off M/Z. The WL runs at the fighting pair, despite Tuya telling her to “stay back! Let them fight!” The WL strikes her mother, saying “wake up, mother! Remember yourself!” The WQ responds by slashing her daughter brutally across her face and replying “I do.”

    M/Z bites into the WQ and comments that her blood tastes “so good”. The WQ says that she will heal faster than “your teeth.” Interestingly, M/Z is speaking in Maika’s voice at this point (she calls the WQ “grandmother.”) The sky is starting to open up and a giant eye is peering through on the city. The mask is starting to open the prison of the gods.

    Tuya calls out “Maika!” and M/Z turn to her, apparently not recognizing her. Then Kippa runs up and stands between Tuya and M/Z, calling out to her and telling her that if she doesn’t stop, she will tear open the sky and kill them all. M/Z recognizes Kippa and hesitates. The WQ, in an absolutely enraged and ravenous state, descends on Kippa, roaring.

    In that instant, inside the hybrid being that Maika and Zinn have become, time seems to stop. They watch the WQ attacking Kippa. They realize the mask has given them more power but they have not mastered it, not like the Shaman Empress did. Zinn says the gamble of using the mask is weakening the prison and may cost other lives. Maika says they might lose, but it’s not because they lack power, it’s because they are “disorganized.” Zinn replies they might lose to the WQ because they are not “whole” and that is why his kind lost to the Ancients in the past. He blames himself for not trusting the others and creating division. He says he is to blame now for not being “gentle” or “loyal”, apparently to Maika. Maika responds by saying that he would not be gentle to her because he saw her as his prison and she blamed him for who she is. They realize they have to trust each other. Zinn admits he fears trust because he fears how it will change him. But Maika tells him that whatever they become, how could it be worse than what they are? Beyond that, she says that what will not change is that she will give her life for Kippa and for Zinn. Zinn pauses, then says “then let us save the child…with that one act we begin..”

    Back in real time, M/Z stop the WQ’s sword from killing Kippa. There is a fantastic glow, then a massive release of energy, very much like the blast that destroyed Constantine. When it subsides, the WQ is unconscious (maybe dead? That remains to be seen, but I doubt it) and Kippa is unharmed. Standing before her is a true hybrid being, one shaped like Maika, but covered in Zinn’s body, and in an even more elaborate armor. When it speaks Kippa’s name, it is speaking with one voice.

    Kippa, being Kippa, cheers: “Yay! And you didn’t kill us!” M/Z says to Kippa “you’ll never stop running towards danger, will you?” Kippa says that Maika needed her, then asks what Maika has become. Maika says she does not know. Tuya is there watching and afraid. When Maika turns towards her, Tuya slips on the edge of the ruin they are on and falls. Maika immediately dives after her and saves her, catching her and clinging to the edge of the building. Maika asks Tuya, “are you hurt?” Then “you’re safe, don’t be afraid. It’s just me.” As she says the last sentence, her voice changes to Maika’s and her helmet flows away from her head, exposing her face. Tuya says her name, but Maika says to her “No. Don’t tell me.” Then the women push their faces together, though they don’t actually kiss.

    Another great issue! I'll post some thoughts on this later today.
    Last edited by ShaunN; 05-28-2021 at 05:24 AM.

  3. #33
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    Some random thoughts on Monstress #34:

    Really great issue. Some critics have called it the best of the series. While I would not go that far, it is clear that a lot of ideas and plot threads have moved on to the next level, though not necessarily resolved.

    The most obvious of these is the union between Maika and Zinn. After fighting each other then slowly reaching a kind of understanding and learning to care about each other, they have finally moved on to mutual trust. This has opened the door on them becoming, essentially, one being. It remains to be seen what this means. Will Zinn consume the rest of Maika’s body? Will he still be able to separate from her? The deeper questions have simply become deeper. There are various clues throughout the series that Maika is a new incarnation (maybe reincarnation?) of the Shaman Empress. She is part of some kind of plan the SE set in motion. Will she eventually become the SE? If so, what will be left of Maika?

    The usual questions about the exact nature of Zinn’s relationship with the SE remain. Nonetheless, what is most important about this development is that, for the first time, Maika may be able to wield Zinn’s full power. How that affects the war remains to be seen. And she still does not have the full mask. So, this most recent development may finish the first phase of the series but the story is getting even more complex.

    The Wolf Queen: when Maika and company encountered the Blood Fox, it was revealed that he had advocated the extermination of the Arcanics because their appearance corresponded to a decline in the power of the Ancients. If that is so, then it is frightening to consider how powerful they must have been in their prime. The WQ is terrifying, savage and incredibly powerful. Her vicious verbal and then physical assault on her own daughter is horrifying and will likely leave permanent scars, physical and psychological. Most interesting is that when Kippa sees the WQ using her special vision, she sees a being with multiple eyes that looks quite a bit like Zinn. It underlines the point that the WQ and the other Ancients are aliens that have inhabited the bodies of others and that they and the old gods they have imprisoned may be very similar kinds of beings.

    The Mask: The WQ’s comment that the mask is “our birthright” is fascinating. She also curses the Shaman Empress. To this point I had thought the mask was made by the SE, but that may not be the case – maybe she took it from the Ancients and used it. Either way, the mystery of the mask -who made it, what it does – continues.

    Tuya and Maika: obviously, they still love each other. At the end, when Maika says “don’t tell me” what does she mean? Does she not want Tuya to tell her that she loves her? I wonder if Maika and Tuya’s relationship is entering a new, tragic phase, where they are always together but cannot be together. I don’t know how seriously Arcanics are supposed to take their arranged marriages, but I suspect that Tuya’s marital loyalty to the Warlord may be an issue.

    Gull and the Mother Superior (and the Doctor): the Dr was trying to get the fragment of the mask in Aurum and give it to Maika – I expect the present situation may aid in that. The most interesting part of the scene with the MS and Gull is that Gull was encouraging the MS to listen to the voice she was hearing. If it turns out that the MS hears the same voice of the fallen faction that Gull heard when she had on the mask, then the plans for the old gods may change. Obviously, there is some kind of major dispute between the old gods within the prison and it looks like the faction to which the MS and Gull belong may have lost. That adds a new wrinkle to the whole idea of freeing the old gods.

    Kippa: remains Kippa -absolutely indispensable and the heart of the series. She runs to help Maika, even putting herself in incredible danger and it is the desire to save Kippa’s life from the WQ that gives Maika and Zinn the final push needed to trust each other and become one being.

    That’s about it for now. If any more thoughts occur to me, I’ll post.

  4. #34
    Astonishing Member Jekyll's Avatar
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    Just ordered volume 1 can’t wait to read!
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  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
    Just ordered volume 1 can’t wait to read!
    If you've never read the series before and volume 1 is your first exposure to it, then that is quite a commitment to make! But I practically guarantee you will really enjoy it -well, as long as you have a stomach for a certain amount of blood and violence. The first issue is massively oversized and an incredible and intriguing introduction to a fully realized world.

    I hope you enjoy it. Let me know once you've had a chance to read it.

  6. #36
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    One other thought: I've mentioned before that Maika, in an earlier issue, had an encounter with the Shaman Empress in her dreams where the SE referenced an earlier encounter she had with Maika where Maika was almost "mad with grief" after a siege of a city. That encounter revealed that, at the least, the SE and Maika were talking to each other at different times in their respective timelines, if not moving in opposite directions through time. The idea that the death of someone dear to Maika is going to happen at the siege of Ravenna has been planted ever since. My fear was that the one to die might be Kippa -this is still an obvious possibility. But now it seems just as likely that it is Tuya. The loss of Tuya would have devastated Maika one way or the other - because they have been apart for so long, it has been difficult for readers to understand how much they love each other, but now that they are together again, this is becoming apparent. Their apparent reconciliation adds to the likelihood that Tuya's death has the potential to drive Maika "mad with grief."

  7. #37
    Astonishing Member Jekyll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ShaunN View Post
    If you've never read the series before and volume 1 is your first exposure to it, then that is quite a commitment to make! But I practically guarantee you will really enjoy it -well, as long as you have a stomach for a certain amount of blood and violence. The first issue is massively oversized and an incredible and intriguing introduction to a fully realized world.

    I hope you enjoy it. Let me know once you've had a chance to read it.
    Well unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea. I tried but couldn't get into it, even though I do love fantasy.
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  8. #38
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    I wonder what the oracles mean by Maika won't surive in many ways this could mean she and Zinn become one and become something else.


    The Wolf Queen: when Maika and company encountered the Blood Fox, it was revealed that he had advocated the extermination of the Arcanics because their appearance corresponded to a decline in the power of the
    Ancients. If that is so, then it is frightening to consider how powerful they must have been in their prime. The WQ is terrifying, savage and incredibly powerful. Her vicious verbal and then physical assault on her own daughter is horrifying and will likely leave permanent scars, physical and psychological. Most interesting is that when Kippa sees the WQ using her special vision, she sees a being with multiple eyes that looks quite a bit like Zinn. It underlines the point that the WQ and the other Ancients are aliens that have inhabited the bodies of others and that they and the old gods they have imprisoned may be very similar kinds of beings.
    Zinn points this out. That Wolf QUeen never had a body of her own. So this makes you wonder. How did she get her own body.

  9. #39
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    Monstress #35 – Recap – SPOILERS AHEAD!

    The story begins with Maika narrating a conversation with Tuya, where she talks about how both of them had wanted to become something new after having survived the war, but how they both gave up on their dreams. As she narrates, the panels depict the efforts of the final survivors of Ravenna to gather up what they can and escape to the remaining airships. Maika’s allies, the Grey Riders, are trying to organize the mobs straining to get on the ships. Maika arrives, looking otherworldly. She is still clad in her armor, made of Zinn, and she is carrying the Wolf Queen, who is unconscious. Tuya is helping the Warlord, whose face is bandaged, and Kippa is beside Maika. Corvin is carrying his sister, who has lost most of her limbs by now.

    The Warlord tells Maika, weakly, not to go far. Maika promises to stay around and fight, though she says the WL may regret having her around.

    When Maika disembarks, she notices someone standing, waiting for her. It is Yvette Lo Lim. Yvette immediately realizes that Maika’s changed appearance is due to her using the masks. Maika realizes that Yvette provided the Federation with the gas they used against Ravenna and she also realizes that only her father could have weaponized the body of an old god in that way. So, she knows that Yvette and her father are working together. Yvette confirms this and indicates that the Doctor is trying to create chaos so that he can more easily seize control of the world. But the Doctor is also trying to “protect” Maika. Yvette points out some approaching air ships. These are the ships, apparently, that had been detected earlier. It turns out they are not Federation ships but belong to the Doctor’s Red Court. They open fire on the human forces, apparently obliterating them, then approach the survivors in Ravenna with food and medical supplies.

    Several of the Doctor’s “war masters” are on the ships and, among themselves, express shock that there are so few survivors of Ravenna and regret they did not come earlier. The Beast is amongst them, and they are confronted by Maika, who is suspended by tendrils holding her between the two ships. She and the Beast exchange words, the Beast blaming Maika and her “incompetent aunt” for losing Ravenna. Maika notes that she does not know the Beast. As they talk, Zinn warns Maika of a “familiar scent” coming from the Beast. The Beast gives her name and says that she will see Maika in the north at the Dusk Court to determine who will lead the war effort. Maika replies “Good. We’ll be able to compare gifts from the old man” as she departs. Maika has figured out that the Beast is the Doctor’s other daughter, her (presumably) half-sister.

    In the city of Aurum, the Mother Superior and Gull are trying to recover from the experience of Maika putting on the masks. The MS is asking why only Maika wearing the masks affects them in this way when the wall explodes and the Doctor comes in. The Doctor stabs the MS, exposing her as a demon. The Federation troops open fire on her, believing their MS is possessed, but she makes short work of them. Gull is stabbed by the Doctor, who then fights the MS and overpowers her. He says that they are both gods, but he is superior. He then cuts his hand and bleeds on the forcefield protecting the box that holds the fragment of mask. The shield contracts and he opens the box to reveal the mask. Just then, someone puts a hand on his shoulder.

    It is the human woman who heads the scientific expedition that had been examining the box. She was already revealed to be very nonchalant about everything happening around her. The Doctor senses she is not what she seems, but when he puts his hand on her, she breaks one of his fingers then reveals herself to be Vinh! Vinh slashes the Doctor across his face. He comments that she has increased her strength and deduces she used the corpse of the old god that fell in Pontus to make a serum to make herself more powerful. As they fight, they have a very interesting conversation. The Doctor says he is doing what he is doing to benefit everyone, including the Ancients and the Old Gods, because he wants them to be able to return to the stars. But, according to Vinh, this is exactly the problem: whatever it is that they fled from in the stars is now cut off from getting them on this world because they destroyed the roads. If they rebuild them, they open the door on what they were fleeing. This is why the Shaman Empress had to die -she was too curious and did not understand what she could be unleashing. The Doctor says he is not afraid, but Vinh says this is why the Ancients want the mask -so they can hide it away and no one can use it as the Doctor plans. While they were fighting, however, Gull and the MS managed to sneak in and steal the mask fragment. So, for seemingly the first time, the Doctor fails in his scheme.

    We now go to Maika and Zinn, who are undoing their merge and becoming separate beings, as the mask fragments come apart. Maika and Zinn realize that they can merge into one being because Maika is a descendant of the child Zinn had with the Shaman Empress.

    Maika leaves to go check on the Wolf Queen. She passes Yvette in the hall (they are on an airship) who is accompanied by one of the Cumaean engineered witches. Maika comments that she was sure the WQ was dead but Zinn says her kind is incredibly hard to kill. Maika realizes that the Blood Fox, whom she merely strangled, must still be alive. Zinn confirms this. Maika says that Vinh, the ferryman and Ren all said that the BF was dead, but Zinn says that Vinh lied and the other two did not know better. Zinn knew but did not volunteer the information. Maika realizes that all of the Ancients are as powerful as the WQ and that the WQ, by herself, could have won the war against the humans. Tuya then appears, asking who would they rule and who would amuse them if they simply used their powers to the fullest.

    Maika indicates to Zinn that she wants privacy to talk to Tuya. Zinn retreats into her body but warns her to be cautious. Maika tells Tuya that if she had known Tuya wanted to kill her, in the past, she might have helped. But now she wants to live because she has things she needs to do. They continue the conversation but soon start kissing. Before they get too far into it, Tuya’s eyes tear up and she suddenly scratches Maika with a needle in her bracelet. Maika has only time to say “Tuya”, her eyes and face showing her shock at the betrayal.

    Tuya has injected Maika with the mind-killing poison, a version of what Corvin was supposed to administer to her. Zinn manages to get out “betrayal” and his tendrils stab Tuya in the arm. Her arm and shoulder immediately shrivel up, drained of life. Tuya says to Maika “It’s just your mind, Maika. It’s like going to sleep. You won’t feel anything we do to you.” She ends by promising not to harm “the fox child.”

    Maika has collapsed on the floor, the veins on her face black and purple with poison. Tuya cries while holding her shriveled arm.
    Last edited by ShaunN; 07-01-2021 at 03:51 AM.

  10. #40
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    Just a few random thoughts:

    This was another incredible issue and a heck of a way to wrap up volume 6 of the series.

    The big thing: Tuya's betrayal of Maika: I think this may explain what the Shaman Empress was referencing when she met Maika many issues ago in Maika's mind. I've commented on this before - how the SE encountered a Maika who was almost insane with grief. I'd been assuming this meant that Tuya or Kippa died but now I think it is probably the grief that comes from this absolute betrayal. After everything, as both the ends of this issue and the last indicate, Maika trusted Tuya. She cannot believe that the woman she loves has tried to murder her. again Zinn had already commented on how he had assumed Tuya was dead because of the way Maika thought of her but he came to realize it was the pain of betrayal. Now, Tuya has betrayed her again, and in a much more profound way.

    At any rate, I think there is no question that Maika's mind will survive, but the psychological damage caused by Tuya's actions may be incurable.

    Some other interesting ideas: it is now apparent that the SE did not make the mask - it was/is a tool that can open up or rebuild the roads across the stars. Apparently, both the Ancients and the Old Gods are refugees from some terrible force/beings that dwell out in the stars. Why these beings can't come down to this world after the refugees is not clear, but I'm sure that will be explained. So, an element of Lovecraftian horror has been introduced - or, actually reintroduced, since the Old Gods were very reminiscent of that influence already. But now we have ancient, horrible gods whom even ancient, horrible gods fear. Another point: why can only Maika and her father actually use the mask? That fact does seem to suggest that the SE made it (and geared it to her bloodline) but a number of recent events seem to contradict that.

    I loved the return of Vinh! I was not expecting that, but I'm glad she is back and that she was able to throw a bit of a wrench in the Doctor's plans. The fact that the Blood Fox survived is also interesting. As I recall, he wanted Maika to break the chain holding him to the island. She used that chain to strangle him and, in the course of doing so, broke it. I assume that was his plan and that he has managed to free himself from the island. If so, he is another player on the field who cannot be ignored. But Vinh would be aware of this, as would the Wolf Queen.

    The next few issues, I am sure, will be inside Maika's mind as she fights the poison and meets the SE. Hopefully, that means a lot more will be revealed.

  11. #41
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    One other comment: we know that an Ancient blessed Kippa and gave her powers of vision, the ability to see what is true and to see through all kinds of deceptions. Her powers seem to be growing. We don't have a clue, however, as to who that Ancient was or why they did this. It's very possible/probable that the Ancient responsible is someone we have not yet met. If it is someone who has already appeared, I don't know who it could be. Vinh seems like the most likely prospect. Her apparent surprise when Kippa began revealing what she could see of Vinh's true self may have just been an act.

    The fact that the Ancients are still incredibly powerful, despite being reduced by the presence of the Arcanics, is striking. It means their power in their prime was absolutely terrifying. Did the birth of Zinn and the SE's child have anything to do with this? Why did they call her an "abomination" and try to kill her?

  12. #42
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    Monstress #36

    I fell behind on my recaps for this series. Issues #36 and #37 are now out. Below is the summary for #36.

    Monstress #36- starts off almost where the last issue left off. Kippa is screaming at Tuya, threatening to kill her. Tuya is claiming that Maika has fallen ill on her own and won’t wake up. So, she plans to take Maika to the Dusk Court, where she can be treated. No one believes her, of course, but she sticks by her story. One of the Grey Riders makes the point that Maika should be taken to the Dawn Court (the home of the Wolf Queen and the Warlord) but this almost leads to a firefight between the Dusk Court and Dawn Court factions. Tuya brushes everyone off, saying that soldiers should simply obey or resign. Kippa tries to convince Corvin to take Maika’s body and fly off, but he points out that Maika is now just a lump of flesh. Kippa refuses to accept this.

    Two cats are seen tending to Maika. One of them, a scientist, is examining Maika’s prosthetic arm and finds something operating and sending a signal inside of it. He begins to dig around, trying get at the device.

    The scene cuts to “the Beast”, Maika’s half-sister. She is instructing some of her people in how to repair one of the Doctor’s devices. She then talks to one of the War Masters, Uliaza, a woman she considers a confidant. She disagrees with the Doctor’s “plan.” She also admits to losing control and becoming angry when she met Maika for the first time. She admonishes herself for losing control -she says there is so little of her that is left that her control is all she has. Her arm begins to blink; she is summoned to a radio communication with her father.

    The Doctor brings his daughter up to speed on what has happened with Maika and indicates that he knows she is not dead, despite what the Dusk Court believes. When he turns from his communication, we find that Vinh is in his bed and the two have been having sex -an interesting turn given that the last time we saw them, they were fighting. But their conversation makes it sound like their sex was just another continuation of their battle. Vinh says she intends to go to the Dusk Court to be there when Maika arrives. Vinh indicates that she wants to prevent Maika from assembling the mask and the Doctor from having it but that she does admire Maika. It seems that Vinh’s feelings of benevolence towards Maika are real.

    We skip to Tuya on the airship. A doctor is telling her that her arm is useless and should be removed, but it won’t rot so she refuses. The doctor also indicates that she is keeping the Warlord sedated, under Tuya’s orders, but it is hard since the Warlord is resisting the drugs. Tuya violently insists that the Dr. succeed because she does not want her wife waking up before they get to the Dusk Court.

    Tuya has a conversation with Tanno, where she ends on a somewhat ominous note, saying that all the Courts that are after Maika’s power will “get it”.

    Kippa is asleep. Corvin leaves her and goes to visit his sister. His sister insists that Kippa will need his protection once they get to the Dusk Court. Kippa is having a dream where she wanders into a temple for the Shaman Empress. She calls out “miss?” apparently sensing Maika’s presence. Suddenly, she is awakened by Yvette Lo Lim, who has smuggled herself aboard the ship. Yvette wants to know if Kippa wants to hurt the people who have hurt Maika. Kippa is reluctant to talk to Yvette, but she ends up going to visit Maika, where she is being examined by the two cat doctors. One of them is very nice to Kippa and invites her over to see Maika. The other is still digging around in Maika’s prosthetic arm, trying to get the blinking device. He succeeds in hooking the device and it explodes, setting him on fire. In the commotion that follows, Kippa approaches Maika and begs her to keep fighting.

    We now go into Maika’s mind. She is in a black void, talking to Tuya, asking Tuya why she gave her hope. Hope was the only true gift she could give and Tuya used it against her. She says that nothing has hurt her so much, but she promises Tuya that she will not be gone for good and that the next time she sees Tuya she will not be bringing hope. While this is happening, Maika has emerged from a profound darkness, gradually coming into the light. She rises from a black ocean to see Zinn and his fellows, glowing like stars in the forms that they first had, on their birth world.

    So, that’s where the story ends.

    A few observations/thoughts: when Tuya says that all the Courts will “get” Maika’s power, it is said and presented in such a way that almost suggests Tuya has a plan of her own and may not truly believe she has succeeded in destroying Maika’s mind. It almost suggests she is hoping to unleash Maika on the others. Maybe she thinks she can somehow control the power herself? We’ll have to see.

    The Beast has suddenly become a rather intriguing character. The Doctor and Vinh having an affair – or whatever it is they are doing – is a bit jarring. Vinh remains one of the most interesting and mysterious characters in the series. I am not clear at the moment what has happened to the mask. I’ll have to check on this, but Maika had been using it to fully integrate with Zinn. I wonder if it is now part of her or if Tuya managed to acquire it.

    The device that exploded and killed the cat doctor was probably the device the Doctor has been using to spy on Maika and keep track of what is happening with her. I still think that Maika knew it was there, but I hope that it has now been destroyed and the Doctor will no longer be able to listen in.

    The next issue has some much more consequential developments. I’ll put up the summary and some speculations soon.
    Last edited by ShaunN; 02-26-2022 at 05:40 AM.

  13. #43
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    Monstress #37 - SPOILERS AHEAD

    The story begins with Maika and Zinn in Zinn’s memories of the world where he and his fellow old gods originated. This gives Sana Takeda the opportunity to depict a world that Zinn describes as a “garden of light. A world of living light.” He and his fellows look like light infused jellyfish, floating amid the light. They feel only peace, they don’t remember their origins. Then, one day, some other force comes to conquer them.

    Zinn does not want to remember or see the face of the enemy. He talks about how much he and his people lost and how they had to change. He indicates he has lost everything he loved. Maika forces him to focus. They are trapped in their mind due to the poison Tuya gave Maika and they need to escape. Zinn notes the Ancients have tried and failed at using this method to control the old gods in the past, but Maika is concerned they may succeed this time. Maika says they are united now and they need to fight together. Zinn tells her to not overlook the opportunity to remember. Maika sees images of Zinn’s people escaping from their world on starships. A red, swirling cloud is destroying their world. This is the only representation of his feeling about the enemy that Zinn will allow himself to see. Interestingly, Maika is taken with how a world looks from space and Zinn tells her that her world is very similar in size.

    Zinn tells Maika that his people did not have the technology to escape their world. Allies came for them but it was almost too late. Zinn and Maika suddenly see a shattering collage of Zinn’s memories, which include a lion telling him that “Ubasti and her sisters have taken mercy on your kind, but do not abuse their…” They see a cat talking about living light. They also see the Shaman Empress, Miriam, and Zinn’s child with the SE. Then their shared memory goes to Maika’s memories and she sees herself, and two other children eating by a campfire.
    These are her memories of the expedition in the desert that ended with her mother dying and her running into the desert and, eventually, being captured and becoming a slave. Maika has never remembered these things before. She sees her mother and the other expedition leaders talking, then one of the children takes the picture of the group that Maika has been holding onto for years.

    Maika identifies all of the people there – Moriko, her mother; the Mother Superior, before she was possessed; Gull, before she was possessed; Yvette Lo Lim; her friend Akeba. There is also a little girl there who took the picture who is, apparently, the child of the Mother Superior. But there is another little child there who is an Arcanic fox. Maika looks at her and asks who she is. The next scene we see is the fox child tied to a rock slab. She has been drugged by Moriko and the other adults, but she is coming out of it. The MS drugs her again. The MS, whose name is Destria, says that the artifacts they found must be studied. Moriko says that they are studying them. She says the reason she brought along the fox child is that the child is a distant relative of the Shaman Empress and her blood should have a “charge.” Moriko intends to put the mask fragments – which they have apparently just found -on the child’s face. As she moves to do so, Maika sees a flash of Kippa as the child on the slab. It seems it is the real Kippa, somehow making psychic contact with her. Kippa begs her to hold on.

    Then the memories come back. Maika, as a child, argues with her mother over what she is doing. Maika steals the mask fragments, to prevent her mother from hurting anyone else. Maika and her friend Akeba are running away, Akeba sure they will be killed if they are caught. Maika is holding the mask fragments, using cloth to keep them from her skin. Her mother is pursuing her and warning her to keep the fragments away from her face. Maika screams that she hates her mother and puts the fragments on.

    We see a flash of the child Maika wearing the mask. Apparently, this leads to a massive explosion. She is saying to her mother how sorry she is, she’ll be good, don’t leave her, she loves her mother. She is saying “make it stop” and her voice begins to change to that of a monster. The explosion blows Maika and Zinn back out of the memory. They fall back into the world of light. Maika sees flashes of her life as a very young child; as a baby with Ren, her father holding her, her mother holding her, then finally Zinn. She and Zinn find themselves in an enormous structure which has massive suits of armor that look like they were designed to be worn by old gods. A voice behind her says “Little Wolf”. It is her mother.

    Her mother tells her that much was lost and much remains to be regained. The SE understood this. Moriko tells Maika she had to make her strong, to deal with what is coming. Maika tells her mother that Moriko did terrible things. Moriko says more terrible than Maika can imagine. She did this for Maika but also because of her own desire to control every possibility. Maika asks her mother if she hurt her when she put on the masks. In reply, her mother shows her one final memory.

    Moriko is running through a world on fire, holding Maika. She says to Maika that “they may think you’re dead, but they’ll still be looking.” She trips and falls, dropping Maika. Maika is crying, saying how the monsters hurt her, how her face and chest are burning. Moriko says that she knows but that they have to run while Destria and the others are still weak. Maika shouts that they can’t leave without Areka, but Moriko tells her Areka ran with a piece of the mask. She then says to Maika “now come, we must run too. If I can summon the Wolf Queen”.

    Maika suddenly tells her mother she feels strange. She begins to change. A monstrous voice says “I’m so hungry.” Moriko looks shocked, then resigned and at peace. Her eyes tear up and she tells Maika “Little Wolf. Don’t be afraid.” As Maika watches, her mother ages and her life is sucked away. The memory ends with Maika consuming her mother. Adult Maika watches, a look of pure horror on her face. Beside her, her mother places her hand on Maika’s shoulder and Zinn hovers, watching.

    Comments: really beautiful but hard issue. It answers some key questions. So, now we know that the murder of Maika’s mother, the event driving Maika’s quest, was committed by Maika herself, the first time that Zinn manifested. It appears the event that destroyed their camp was Maika putting on the mask. The release of energy also freed some of the old gods who went on to possess the Mother Superior and Gull. The experience also changed Yvette in some fundamental way so she now consumes human flesh. These creatures were what Maika and her mother were running from. Moriko sees Maika transforming and, presumably, realizes what has happened. She was trying to summon her own mother to save them when Zinn emerged and devoured her. It is probable that this is the memory that almost breaks Maika. I had assumed before it was Tuya’s betrayal, but Maika seems to be handling that well. The knowledge that she killed her mother may be too much for her. But we know that she is about to meet the Shaman Empress in her mind. Akeba, who apparently disappeared with a fragment of the mask, is increasingly important. Did Yvette get that fragment from Akeba? What happened to him/her? Akeba seems to be a part-maritime Arcanic. One of the earlier issues noted that the Wave Court might be enormously powerful, though they have not been too involved in the story up to now. Did Akeba go back to them?

    Anyway, the story keeps getting more and more interesting and intriguing, but there is a lot to follow!

  14. #44
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    Just some additional observations. I was looking at some of my back TPBs of Monstress. In volume 2, after Maika touches the mask to her face one of the first times, she has a vision of other people who possess fragments of the mask. One is a Queen of Thyria, a siren who is later murdered by Gull, the Cumaean possessed by an old god. The second is an image of a woman with a sword. To the best of my recollection, that woman has not yet appeared, so she is still a mystery. However, we know that Akeba ran with one of the pieces of the mask the night that Maika accidentally murdered her mother, and he does not seem to appear. In volume 3, after the Queen of Thyria is murdered, it is mentioned by one of the other characters that Akeba was one of the successor Queen's nephews and he has vanished without a trace. So, his fate (at least for now) is also a mystery.

    The fact that the young child on whom Moriko was experimenting was a fox child seems a bit coincidental and makes me wonder if she is connected to Kippa in some way. Perhaps there is some kind of supernatural bond. We know that Kippa was blessed by a mysterious Ancient when she was a child and that she is something the seers have difficulty seeing and understanding when they try to look into the future. Also, she has developed some kind of sight that enables her to see the essences of people. She can apparently also see ghosts. So, there is a lot going on with her.

    Finally, Yvette Lo Lim tells Maika in one of the early issues that she and the others had believed that Maika perished the night of the explosion. Her mother somehow used the body of another child to make the others think it was Maika. Since Akeba is some kind of maritime Arcanic and the fox child had fox characteristics, it seems likely the child Moriko used was the child of Destria, the Mother Superior.

  15. #45
    pygophile and podophile Dr. Cheesesteak's Avatar
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    I'm trying to decide if I should continue getting singles for this series or just convert to TPB/HC. Once Manifest Destiny ends in a few months, this'll be the only title I'm still getting singles for, as I've essentially full converted all purchases to TPB/HC's.

    I see some references to expected series length, #35 possibly marking the midway point of the series? Are there any citations for this from Liu or Takeda themselves?
    Comics were definitely happier, breezier and more confident in their own strengths before Hollywood and the Internet turned the business of writing superhero stories into the production of low budget storyboards or, worse, into conformist, fruitless attempts to impress or entertain a small group of people who appear to hate comics and their creators. -- Grant Morrison, 2008

    Sometimes things are special because they don't last. -- Zhi, Tales from the Loop

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