Don’t pity Amanda Lam. Sure, she was kidnapped as a baby by the insidious Baron Brom. Though the Lams searched for years, they never saw her again. While Brom trained Amanda to be the most monstrous of monster hunters, her parents continued their own crusade against evil. Eventually, they had another child, in a manner that makes you wonder if they’re of Frankenstein blood. Amanda may be scarred inside and out, but there’s still something weirdly fun about being Monster Born.
Books and Monster Forge Productions
Okay, it’s more fun for the readers than for the people struggling against Brom’s dark cabal. Especially when masters of horror Steve Niles and Shannon Eric Denton team with the macabre Tom Mandrake to let loose on portraying their world of monsters. Every monster you can imagine has a place in this world, and Mandrake clearly has fun putting his (almost) trademark spin on them on their own and in mash-ups. They have personality and menace, but even when hideous there’s just enough humanity to give pause. Though Mandrake also makes sure to include a few humans with monstrous personalities.
The creative team has built a world poised to pull out all the stops. It’s a perfect witches’ brew. Though Amanda and her brother bring a new flavor to it, Monster Born has a soupçon of The X-Files with a pinch of Kolchak and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But that’s the point if you’re a monster kid, isn’t it? All these worlds collide in our heads already.
This introductory graphic novel builds the world out effectively, though it also feels a little cramped. While I appreciate leaving backstory as seasoning, not the stock, there’s so much Niles and Denton toss out in quick exposition that it feels like they had to compress a mini-series down. There’s 20 pounds of fun horror stuffed into a 10 pound bag. Then again, that just leaves room for a prequel graphic novel without it having to bog down in direct connection.
Monster Born holds a little more promise than what it delivers, but still has a lot of ghoulish fun. Par for the course for Monster Forge Productions. It’s a worthy start, and intriguing to see what’s next. So far the Lams seem to be fighting against creatures of the Western world, but their background suggests a world tour would be a worthy trip.
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