Man-Eaters, Vol. 4: The Cursed

Man-Eaters #13 & The Cursed 1-5

by Chelsea Cain, Kasia Nie (Artist), Lia Miternique (Artist)

Maude, now age 15, returns to her childhood summer camp to find that dark forces are lurking in the woods. MAN-EATERS: THE CURSED reunites the original MAN-EATERS Eisner-nominated creative team, led by NYT bestselling thriller writer, Chelsea Cain, for another tale of adolescent feminist derring-do and supernatural hijinks. Chock-full of ephemera, smart, laugh-out-loud funny, provocative, referential, scary, and compulsively re-readable. Each volume comes with a Patriarchy Reparations Packet.

Collects MAN-EATERS: THE CURSED #1-5 & MAN-EATERS #13

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Horror, Feminism

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

About the author

Chelsea Cain is the New York Times bestselling author of the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell thrillers Heartsick, Sweetheart, Evil at Heart, The Night Season, Kill You Twice, and Let Me Go. Her next book One Kick (August, 2014) will be the first in her Kick Lannigan thriller series. Her book Heartsick was named one of the best 100 thrillers ever written by NPR, and Heartsick and Sweetheart were named among Stephen King's Top Ten Books of the Year. Her books have been featured on HBO's True Blood and on ABC's Castle. Cain lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading all four volumes of this, I'm not sure it was ever a fully thought-out story. Just lots of fake ads, some of them repeating, and a sudden complete shift of "plot" in this final volume. Confusing, but I guess a fun graphic arts assignment? I'm not sure. I really wanted to love these but couldn't.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this series and it's kind of stupid of me to continue reading it. I think this is where I'm done and won't bother with anything else that's released.

Individual issue reviews: Tomorrow Belongs to You | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5

Total review score: 1.333

[Karelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les moths c'est merveilleux.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t like this series or the story but I do enjoy the art and the artifacts. Or at least, I would if the artifacts were more like 1 in 10 pages and not 7 in 10.
There was barely enough story to fill a single issue, not five-plus. Oh well at least it ended, unlike the story in the first three volumes.

[Martijn Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

unnecessary sequel

[Amie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man-Eaters Vol. 4: The Cursed shifts gears from the rest of the series to a self-contained sequel, reuniting 15-year-old Maude at her old summer camp amid a fairy curse plaguing the kids with eerie transformations. Less pantherism, more mythic mischief: magic, peril, and teen sleuthing probe deeper lore, with the usual reparations packet of extras.

A solid detour, but it lacks the feral frenzy of earlier volumes; the artwork still shines, though the story feels lighter on the graphic edge and laughs. Enjoyable world-expansion, just not as razor-toothed.

[The Carrion Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just like the previous series, the set-up and world building are really interesting and then there just isn't a plot.

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Cain's writing, but this is a super slight story with none of the "big idea" cleverness of the earlier books. If you aren't familiar with these graphic novels you might also find it frustrating that the bulk of the book is fake (albeit clever and often funny) adverts about witchcraft and being anti-patriarchy. It was nice to step back into this world but overall this felt like quite a pointless, albeit well executed, outing.

[Woowott · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say? I enjoy this absurdist, feminist title. The art is always fun. It's always amusing. The meta adverts are generally delightful. Even the witch magazine issue was amusing. Sometimes those get a bit tedious, but on the whole I enjoy them. So, yes, I shall continue to read the adventures of Maude and Co. Although, I do miss the unicorn.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Man-Eaters series is one that I went in with high hopes for, only to find it did not wow me in the way I’d anticipated. The first three volumes reached a conclusion, and I only picked up the fourth because I was curious to see what would happen next in the world. There were things I remained curious about, and I had hoped the fourth volume would help me with those things, yet such was not the case.

The Cursed is a story that is not reliant upon the first three volumes. It tells a different tale, set years later, and it only seemed to have nods to the prior story. It felt a little strange in that way, as something set in the world but not entirely reliant upon it. Despite this, I was curious about the strange things that would happen throughout. Thus, I powered through it in no time. While there were some entertaining moments in this, it was not enough to give a whole story that hooked. It was a cute idea, it had potential, yet it missed the mark.

All in all, this sequel felt rather unnecessary to me. At this point, I am calling it quits with the series and will not be looking to see if there are more tales set in the world.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

So...you're saying that my entire life experience as a white male has been indoctrinating me to support an entrenched deeply problematic patriarchy.

I was surprised that there was a forth volume of Man-Eater, but when I read that it was a self-contained story, it made more sense.

This story arc focuses less on the pantherism of the previous story, instead it expands the mythology of the Universe in which Man-Eaters is set.

Magic, fairies, and children in peril, with the usual additional material that you have come to expect from this series. 3 1/2 stars.

[Paul Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different and original comic series about witches and feminism.

Maude goes to Craft Camp and gets involved in an adventure concerning moths, frogs and other fantasy elements. There’s loads of extra sarcastic material to add more fun to the often feminist slant. It’s different and entertaining. Menstruation gets a lot of mention. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume brings the book to where it started, this hilarious and unserious world. Here, in what I believe is the last volume, has Maude, now 15, heading to summer camp hi-jinks ensue. The book is funny and fun and gives us a new layer to this world, supernatural. Maude is adorable the book is adorable. The art was a perfect match for the story. As usual, the "extra" material was great. Incredibly funny. Overall, a fitting finale to a great concept.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of the previous volumes but i found this one was less interesting. So many of the fake ads that were hilarious for the first 50 or so then they just became annoying and I barely skimmed them. I wasn't into the "Witch Camp" theme and the story wasn't entertaining. Man-Eaters, I expect so much more from you!

[Nadina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not know there was going to be another volume, this was an exciting discovery. I really enjoyed this volume. The story was good and well-paced, I enjoyed the plot and the characters. All the little bits of ephemera and bonus content were fun to read and look at. Definitely a fun series and I would gladly read more should there be more that comes.

[Tabrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the use of mixed media and funny but important story, this highly inventive series returns for another volume of rage against the patriarchy. You dont think this creative team has more messages up their sleeve, and here they are hailing a platform that is more than ever to exclaim. 

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

So off the rails, love it

[Lucía Xochimitl · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read

[Sarah AK · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series started out so strong. I laughed out loud and loved every part of the first book. But each book progressively left me wanting more story and less of the mock propaganda. I love me some mockaganda, but there can be too much of a good thing. Sometimes less is more, and unfortunately with this, the more I got, the less I wanted...

[Kayla Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly little "craft" camp spinoff that was fun but lacked the magic that the original series had.

Content Warning: blood

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was probably my favorite in the series. The moths 😍

[Roxana Rathbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these. I love the detailed ads and activities included as well as a good story.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same. Same.

[Neil Mehta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less of a story, more of a fun crafts project. There is so little narrative here.