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Monstress (Single Issues)
Monstress #42
NEW STORY ARC
The only way forward is a return to the past, as Maika and her friends find themselves in an unsettling yet familiar world…
The only way forward is a return to the past, as Maika and her friends find themselves in an unsettling yet familiar world…
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 25, 2023
11 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Marjorie M. Liu
319 books4,304 followersNew York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and she leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop.
Ms. Liu is a highly celebrated comic book writer. Her extensive work with Marvel includes the bestselling Dark Wolverine series, NYX: No Way Home, X-23, and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. She received national media attention for Astonishing X-Men, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Liu also wrote the story for the animated film, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, which was produced by Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Madhouse Inc.
Her newest work is MONSTRESS, an original, creator-owned comic book series with Japanese artist (and X-23 collaborator) Sana Takeda. Published by Image in Fall 2015, MONSTRESS is set in an alternate, matriarchal 1920’s Asia and follows a girl’s struggle to survive the trauma of war. With a cast of girls and monsters and set against a richly imagined aesthetic of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS #1 debuted to critical praise. The Hollywood Reporter remarked that the longer than typical first issue was “world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.”
Ms. Liu is also the author of more than 19 novels, most notably the urban fantasy series, Hunter Kiss, and the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele. Her novels have also been bestsellers on USA Today, which described Liu “as imaginative as she is prolific.” Her critically praised fiction has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, for THE MORTAL BONE (Hunter Kiss #6), and TIGER EYE (Dirk & Steele #1). TIGER EYE was the basis for a bestselling paranormal romance video game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box.
Liu has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, MTV, and been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.com, Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. She is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker, appearing on panels at San Diego Comic Con, the Tokyo Literary Festival, the New York Times Public Lecture series, Geeks Out; and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Her work has been published internationally, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Ms. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and has lived in numerous cities in the Midwest and Beijing. Prior to writing full-time, she was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.
Ms. Liu is a highly celebrated comic book writer. Her extensive work with Marvel includes the bestselling Dark Wolverine series, NYX: No Way Home, X-23, and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. She received national media attention for Astonishing X-Men, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Liu also wrote the story for the animated film, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, which was produced by Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Madhouse Inc.
Her newest work is MONSTRESS, an original, creator-owned comic book series with Japanese artist (and X-23 collaborator) Sana Takeda. Published by Image in Fall 2015, MONSTRESS is set in an alternate, matriarchal 1920’s Asia and follows a girl’s struggle to survive the trauma of war. With a cast of girls and monsters and set against a richly imagined aesthetic of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS #1 debuted to critical praise. The Hollywood Reporter remarked that the longer than typical first issue was “world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.”
Ms. Liu is also the author of more than 19 novels, most notably the urban fantasy series, Hunter Kiss, and the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele. Her novels have also been bestsellers on USA Today, which described Liu “as imaginative as she is prolific.” Her critically praised fiction has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, for THE MORTAL BONE (Hunter Kiss #6), and TIGER EYE (Dirk & Steele #1). TIGER EYE was the basis for a bestselling paranormal romance video game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box.
Liu has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, MTV, and been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.com, Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. She is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker, appearing on panels at San Diego Comic Con, the Tokyo Literary Festival, the New York Times Public Lecture series, Geeks Out; and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Her work has been published internationally, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Ms. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and has lived in numerous cities in the Midwest and Beijing. Prior to writing full-time, she was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 4, 2024
(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: Read in trade paperback. Collective review for issues #42-48 can be found here: Monstress, Volume 8: Inferno.
Notes: Read in trade paperback. Collective review for issues #42-48 can be found here: Monstress, Volume 8: Inferno.
July 4, 2025
After the chaos of war and personal loss, this issue feels like a breath—shallow, uncertain, but necessary. Maika is injured and adrift, both physically and mentally. There’s a subdued, dreamlike quality to the pacing. She is in unfamiliar surroundings with allies who feel more like uneasy ghosts. Kippa is notably absent for much of this issue, emphasizing Maika’s isolation. The tone is quieter, more interior, and the trauma of past decisions weighs heavily. The art continues to deliver: haunting, golden, intimate.
February 3, 2023
These cliffhangers I swear-
After such a hiatus, one would think we will finally get answers, but no: Marjorie and Sana just keep throwing in one wild mess after another. I almost started shipping Maika×Tuya again, but then I remembered Tuya's nasty backstabbing and refrained. I daresay that it is my favourite thing about Monstress: the reader is just as confused about the morality of Maika's actions and the intentions of her associates about as much as she seems to be herself: there is absolutely no coach privilege, we're all struggling here. At least we finally get a glimpse from Zinn's past, but it sparks more questions than answers. Professor Tam Tam is the only one giving straight info at this point, bless her soul. Can't wait for the next issue.
After such a hiatus, one would think we will finally get answers, but no: Marjorie and Sana just keep throwing in one wild mess after another. I almost started shipping Maika×Tuya again, but then I remembered Tuya's nasty backstabbing and refrained. I daresay that it is my favourite thing about Monstress: the reader is just as confused about the morality of Maika's actions and the intentions of her associates about as much as she seems to be herself: there is absolutely no coach privilege, we're all struggling here. At least we finally get a glimpse from Zinn's past, but it sparks more questions than answers. Professor Tam Tam is the only one giving straight info at this point, bless her soul. Can't wait for the next issue.
September 2, 2023
This issue picks up where the last collected volume left off, and nearly entirely takes place in the astral plane/ mental landscape of Maika/Zinn with Maika's younger self/ consciousness attempting to save her adult self/consciousness. But then we get some flashbacks to Zinn's memories (?) and maybe end up worldwalking like the ancient cats did...? As with this entire series, it's all very beautiful and brutal and often confusing, but as someone else said, it's getting real trippy in this latest arc, and I am very here for it!
January 30, 2023
It seems like this arc is going to get very trippy, and I’m ready for that. This book doesn’t always read well as a monthly series because it can be quite languorous and deliberate in how it sets up the various threads and storylines. We could be getting set up for some very compelling issues that stand well on their own — with a troop of Zinn, Maika et al journeying through some alternate dimension weirdness.
December 7, 2024
#42 - "We've reversed positions. I'm YOUR monster, now." - Maika to Zinn
I assume ‘inferno’ correlates with Dante’s depiction of trapped in hell. Epic series, but this volume just gets bogged down in this otherworldly dream- state prison of the old gods.
I assume ‘inferno’ correlates with Dante’s depiction of trapped in hell. Epic series, but this volume just gets bogged down in this otherworldly dream- state prison of the old gods.
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January 29, 2023I don't even know anymore.
(and neither do the creators)
(and neither do the creators)
February 4, 2023
Last session ended with a cliffhanger, as did this one, so it only gets 3 stars for me right now.
May 10, 2023
Oops zinn and maika reverse reverse...
May 11, 2023
I like the new feel and how they escape the "people stumbling though dream country" trope a bit and use it in the larger context of the series
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews