Dear Creature

by Jonathan Case

Deep beneath the waves, a creature named Grue broods. He no longer wants to eat lusty beachgoers, no matter how their hormones call to him. A chorus of crabs urges him to reconsider. After all, people are delicious! But this monster has changed. Grue found Shakespeare's plays in cola bottles and, through them, a new heart. Now he yearns to join the world above. When his first attempt ends... poorly, Grue searches for the person who cast the plays into the sea. What he finds is love in the arms of Giulietta―a woman trapped in her own world. When she and Grue meet, Giulietta believes her prayers are answered. But people have gone missing and Giulietta's nephew is the prime suspect. With his past catching up to him, Grue must decide if becoming a new man means ignoring the monster he was. Rising from a brine of drive-in pulp and gentle poetry, Jonathan Case's debut graphic novel Dear Creature is the love story you never imagined!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2011

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this sounds a little bit better than it actually is; or another way to say it is that it has a lot of great moving parts that don’t quite add up to a great whole. What is it?

*A graphic novel, with clear and strong black and white drawing
*An homage to late fifties/early sixties B horror films and comics
*A love letter to film actresses of that period, in particular Giulietta Masina, great actress and Federico Fellini’s wife.
*A tale of an atomically mutated sea monster named Grue who comes out of the sea to devour young lovers on the beach, but who is also a romantic, who wants to be redeemed through the love of a woman.
*A tale of agoraphobic recluse Giulietta (Juliet!) who sends scraps of Shakespearean plays to Grue, who hereafter speaks in iambic pentameter
*A tribute to Shakespeare, with references and allusions throughout
*A torrid love affair. Grue has to overcome his gruesomeness to become Giulietta’s lover. So it’s a monster-human romance (though without tentacle sex). More along the lines of Swamp Thing, or Beauty and the Beast.
*A tale of two witty crabs who provide comic relief
*A tale of the past coming to haunt the present. Tragedy looms. Can Giulietta accept the monster he once was, or forgive? Can you believe I am even wrote that line, seriously??!

And a whole lot of weirdness, some uneven writing and lack of characterization. A quirky romance, truly original, Case’s debut novel, re-released in this deluxe hardcover with a few appendices. I’d say 3.5, rounded up for surprising first novel illustration quality and originality.

[Nuno R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting meeting of influences. There is something from 40's/50's monster movies, an impressive black and white drawing technique, a lead character that is reminiscent of John, the character from "Brave New World", who only expresses himself quoting Shakespeare. It is a wonderful mixing up of genres and styles, from eras in which male/female roles were supposed to be very assymetrical. Like with other stories, the figure of the male agressor is mixed with the figure of the male saviour. Male strength being characterized, at the same time, as a threat and as the main hero quality. This is something, though, that can be argued against, since the creature has no visible genitals.

In this case, what is interesting is the hipersensitivity of the creature, his Shakespearean view of the world. This is like a reverse Frankenstein monster: in Mary Shelley's story, the creature cannot stand having been created and hates the humanity it will never be a part of and becomes a threat to it. Here, the creature seems uncreated (there is no story about its origin) and looks to humanity with awe, trying to stop itself from being harmful. Another deligthful inversion is the one from the title. In "Dear creature", creature is the term the monster uses to refer to humans.

[Keli · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hilarious love story between a mutant sea monster who speaks in iambic pentameter and an agoraphobic recluse. The art is detailed and the story is full of real whimsy. You have the traditional 1950s B horror movie playing out in the background with the bizarre love story taking the main action. Very clever and tons of fun!

[Christian Lipski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Portland author and illustrator Jonathan Case probably has a quick pitch handy when asked what his new book Dear Creature is about, but it's doubtful if there's any one sentence that can capture everything about the story. "A mutated sea creature who learns about human life from scraps of Shakespeare plays sealed in bottles and eats young teens who draw him in with their hormones falls in love and risks everything" isn't perfect, but it's at least getting close.

Case's monster Grue is an emotionally tormented beast, filled with unrequited love and nobility while at the same time driven by his desire to eat humans. His highbrow aspirations are balanced by his three crab companions, more interested in their next meal than the next page of The Tempest. The earthy trio are reminiscent of the bats from Walt Kelly's Pogo, B. Witched, B. Othered, and B. Mildred. Their conversations with each other and with Grue provide a counterpart to the monster's flowery speech.

Although Grue is besotted by the Bard, he is no perfect character, being a stranger to the ways of real-world humans. The creature finds himself making plenty of wrong turns in his attempts to locate the source of the literary soda bottles. And then there's that whole "eating people" thing to contend with. But no one in Dear Creature is exactly what they appear to be, so why should Grue be any different?

Case presents Grue as one of the oddest sympathetic characters in comics, whose single-minded courtship is aimed not only at his mysterious benefactor, but at the reader as well.

The art of Dear Creature is sharp and effective. Case's use of only blacks for shading is a tricky road to head down, but it works to grand effect. Santa Lucia captures the spirit of a 1960s seaside town perfectly, and especially monster movies of that era.

Grue's cartoony features make it easy for Case to have fun with expressions, such as a wide-mouth "ta da!" for a recently-unconscious cheerleader, but his human faces are equally as emotive, their facial details standing in contrast to the simpler lines of the monster. There's a touch of John Severin there; a combination of contours and white space.

There's not one boring panel in Dear Creature -- Case knows how to add eye candy in the background when the foreground is static, and the reader will enjoy re-reading for details later.

For a creator with relatively little on his comics resume -- a segment in Comic Book Tattoo, last week's Green River Killer -- Case has started off at full speed. Dear Creature hits each mark it aims for, and makes the reader hungry for more.

(reprinted from http://www.examiner.com/comic-books-i...)

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I even say about this gem!? It is everything I've always wanted in a romance, lol! It was perfect! Humorous and exciting, thought-provoking and so very sweet and sincere. I need to add this to my collection to reread at my leisure. This graphic novel makes me incredibly happy. I want to find Mr. Case and hug him for writing this.

And the art! The inking! I adore black& white comics - this was drawn with whimsy and attention to detail and I loved the style. It was almost a nod to the old pulp stories without ever coming across as sarcastic or ironic. The stark pictures were never unclear or obtuse. Really really enjoyed this book!

[Pauline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was extremely excited to win this as a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway. I love graphic novels and the content of this graphic novel sounded really interesting. When I finished it I thought it was a fairly cute and interesting story-nothing astonishing. The reason behind this was the simple fact that I didn't like Grue as much as I should have. This can be attributed to the fact that I thought his character was not as developed as I would have liked it to be.

There should have been a bit more on Grue's decision of whether or not to continue eating humans. This is a big part of his life and I felt that it was not handled well. Also, the sudden decision that Grue was in love with Giulietta was sudden. I can see if this was taken from Shakespeare and his tendency to have people fall madly in love at first sight, but in this case I was left disappointed.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his love letter to the 50s monster movie, first time graphic novelist Case introduces a unique protagonist. The amphibious mutant Grue speaks in Elizabethan iambic pentameter. As with many characters that speak Shakespeare, the creature develops a romantic attachment for a damsel in distress. Aided by symbiotic crab companions, Grue moves beyond his beastly nature, morphing into the hero no one thought he could be. Case's witty script, combined with his comedic art, ideally emulates his source material with action, adventure, and romance. The entertaining volume concludes with the amusing "An Invertebrate's Guide to Iambic Pentameter."

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea, but it felt a bit rushed. Could have definitely used a bit more character development. I really wanted to enjoy Grue...but there just wasn't enough there for me to care about him.

[Lady Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.3 / 5

There are several words that can be used to describe a book like this--in my case, I'll choose the words "corny", "somewhat outdated", and "sweet". A combo of these three things doesn't make for a bad read occasionally, though ultimately it also implies that you'll be able to find something better out there that matches the criteria of the story.

In this case, the criteria is simply a love story between a human woman and a sea monster which, through the old sci-fi movie trope of woman x monster romance, has pretty much been done over and over again by now. In both book and movie media though, it's been done successfully, such that the trope isn't tiresome for audiences even today. It's just that...well, personally, this isn't the best I've seen it done before, and what it accomplished for me is bringing to mind a better version of the story elsewhere.

Let me narrow it down to a recommendation I would suggest to people in case they liked the comic but want more out of the story in depth, character, romance, background, etc. Namely, I suggest you go and watch:

[Nate]

Take Creature from the Black Lagoon, sprinkle with Shakespeare, add loads of quirk, and you’ve got this book. I kinda loved it. Dear Creature is totally original, what with the absurdist humor and pulpy sensibilities oozing from every page. It’s a love story at its core, and a charming one at that. Jonathan Case can sure draw. His clean, sharp lines look fantastic. I’ve enjoyed his art in other books, but this is the first one I’ve read that he’s written. It won’t be the last.

[Mark Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much good stuff here! Great artwork, funny dialogue (even the Shakespearean stuff), talking crabs... but the story felt wrapped up rather than finished. Look forward to other work by this artist. Read this one entirely on the strength of the intro by Craig Thompson. He was right about the art and the creativity. Just wish it had a more satisfying ending.

[Tristan Yi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a quality graphic novel about love, language, and life. The protagonist, a carnivorous and eloquent sea mutant, was surprisingly relatable, and the whole story was intriguing. Dear Creature is a very funny and strangely honest portrayal of outcasts in society who just want to celebrate their love and eat horny teenagers. Dear Creature is entertaining and memorable. The writing is fluid and electric, and the art is exquisite. The whole medium was just great. This is a book for anyone who likes Shakespeare, love stories, monsters, or all of the above. Delicious!

I received a free advance copy.

[Jack Haringa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to believe something so accomplished in art, design, and writing is a debut work, but such is the case with Jonathan Case's Dear Creature. It's a beautiful love letter to B-movie plots and monsters, to Shakespeare, and to comics themselves. The glorious black-and-white artwork evokes both the '50s creature features that serve as the underpinning of the story and the classic horror comics of the same era that provide its template. You can't go wrong with this wonderful work.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky, quick little read.

I thought there could have been a little more build up explaining Grue's learning English and understanding of Shakespeare. How could he understand written language by finding it in a bottle with nothing to model from?

I do love, however, that the heroine is not a beach bunny, cheerleader, or prom queen. That she is more of an elder Ophelia character...

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sea monster who learned to talk like a Shakespearean actor, two crabs with witty senses of humor, and a torrid love affair between a monster and a lunatic - now that's a story! Plus, the artwork is excellent. I cannot wait for more from Jonathan Case.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel is alright, just alright. I love the art style and all the references to classic creature features, but that’s about it. The main character, Grue, doesn’t really have much of any substance and he doesn’t grow during the story. He just kind of makes impulsive decisions, I guess in the name of love (maybe I’m just not a romantic, lol). Everyone else in this story isn’t really a developed character, and maybe I’m just hypersensitive to it, but the two main women are just not believable people (not that the pulpy sherif was either). The whole treatment of Zola as a character sucked, and the creepy detail of what appears to be a young intern sleeping with a much older scientist, just felt weird and like I get this is set in the 60s and gender relations sucked then, but I still want to like at least one of the characters in your story. Also, I just cannot care less about the usage of iambic pentameter for the creature. This felt like the author had a cool idea about a sea monster encountering Shakespeare plays and just shaped this book around that idea without fully fleshing it out. Incredible drawings though!

[Kimber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This dark and delightfully cheesy story in graphic novel form is something you might have expected to find in the old Weird Tales Magazine. A sea monster with formal and flowery speech patterns longs to stop dining on beach-goers and instead wishes to find his true love. A chorus of wise-cracking crabs are his constant companions as he searches for the woman who has been throwing corked bottles filled with pages from Shakespeare's plays into the water, which he has salvaged and enjoyed. His forays onto land cause all kinds of excitement as he attempts to fulfill his dreams.
Jonathan case wrote and illustrated this highly entertaining graphic novel. The artwork is done all in black and white, no gray shading, and it's stark, lovely, and comical, as is the story. At 180+ pages, it makes for a couple of fun hours of reading.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chapter into Dear Creature, I didn’t really know what to make of the series. If I had just the chapter issue by itself, I feel I might have even set the comic down, but I’m glad I didn’t. While this story may draw easy comparisons to Shape of Water, Dear Creature is a far different love-story based upon a highly literate Shakespeare loving sea mutant who falls in love with an agoraphobic woman. What plays out is a subversion of a monster movie, a take that in some ways resembles ET, insofar as we the audience identify with Grue, the monster, though we do sympathize with the human characters too. The volume may not necessarily do anything truly unique with its themes but the delivery is wholly original—where else can you read a story with crabs speaking in iambic pentameter?

[Chelsea Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the era of Swamp Thing, this book puts together some expendable characters and throws some more crucial fleshed-out weirdos together; Giulietta, with a Janet Leigh pixie cut and hospital gown fashions, the exposed-brain fish creature of the title, some chatty crabs, some honest cops, etc. The section at the end on iambic pentameter not-withstanding, the jokey dialogues between the hero and the crabs was distracting to me but the story could totally be a movie; I think I'm not enough of a romantic for monster flicks though (and... I guess possibly The Shape of Water has done a lot of what's here, though I didn't see it). As the Foreward notes though, the line work is very striking.

[Camila Reinehr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sendo curta e grossa, perdi meu tempo lendo isso aqui. Entendo que deve ter seus méritos, mas que leitura chata.

O personagem principal é bem cansativo. Não consegui gostar dele. Achei bem raso e mal desenvolvido. Eu entendo que o autor tentou dar um toque “Shakespeareano” nele, mas isso não cativou.

Inclusive, todo esse amor à primeira vista sem qualquer explicação ou desenvolvimento não dá mais para engolir. As cenas de carinho e intimidade foram muuuito forçadas e incomodaram bastante.

Em suma, achei a história superficial, atropelada, mal desenvolvida e muito forçada. Uma pena.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got lost early on, but went back and reread it more slowly. Let's just say iambic pentameter is not my strong suit. It's very clever and the ending is quite satisfying and wraps up numerous threads surprisingly well. The artwork is excellent and detailed but the intensity of the inks would have benefited greatly from a larger-sized book.

[Jessica deViller]

Dear Creature by Jonathan Case

I loved this graphic novel so much! It was so well done. I was giggling constantly. I couldn’t help but share parts of it with my partner because they were so cute and funny, yet rather dark. The pictures were interesting, the characters were beautifully drawn and the little crabs were so friggin cute. Everyone should read this book.

[Michael Rhode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. Art is impressive.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the stranger things I've ever read...

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun read. I described it to donee as “kind of like if Ariel was a man eating monster, and had a better vocabulary.”

[Kelly Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iambic-pentameter-spouting sea monster finds his agoraphobic Juliet. Happier ending than Shakespeare, apart from all the people who got eaten.

[Gig Wailgum · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd but compelling beach town tale of love and sci-fi horror. It's full of Shakespearean sonnets, beach scenes and hilarious crabs.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange yet compelling.

[Mox Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave my coworker some books and she gave me this one. Never heard of it and loved it, very different from the graphic novels I regularly read

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

soo cute and wholesome. I don't know why it has such a low review! The characters are great, the art is wonderful, and everyone gets a happy ending.