In Review: Mono #1

Synopsis: From the Boer War, through the First and Second World War, the Cold War and beyond, Mono was there…where no one else could go…

 The ape-human hybrid secret agent and Queen’s assassin, possessed of a deadly prehensile tail and ‘the strength of twelve men’, made his debut in the pulps of the 1930s and enjoyed a brief revival in the late 1960s and 70s.

Review: There is very little in that above synopsis to put me off reading this book and upon reading all I can say is wow.

The comic is told in flash back with a friend of Mono narrating via some recorded notes that the hero had made about his adventures.

What struck me right away about this book and helped keep me engaged was the fantastic artwork by Ben Wolstenholme. There are only so many adjectives in the English language that can be used to describe action and drama and Wolfstenholme seems to have been able to use all of them simultaneously with his art work.

This is an example of writer and artist working well together and sharing the stories narrative between them. In terms of writing Liam Sharp seems to have embraced the less is more approach, but also added a somewhat poetic almost Iambic Pentameter style to how Mono writes in his journals. Sharp does well to not add dialogue where Wolstenholme’s artwork is doing much of the action.

The art style has a very pulpy painted style to it and is dark, gritty and lovely to look at.

If nothing else you will appreciate this book for its artwork if you are not pulled into the story.

At the end of issue one we are left with more questions than we are answers, but for this book that is a good thing because I personally can’t wait to check out issue two.

Mono is released through Titan Comics and is in stores today and well worth a look for fans of pulp storytelling.