In an empty city, the children run rampant. But what is the secret to their solitude and longevity? Your Major Spoilers review of Little Monsters from Image Comics, awaits!

LITTLE MONSTERS #1

Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dustin Ngyuen
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Greg Lockard
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 9th, 2022

Previously in Little Monsters: For longer than they can remember, these child vampires have lived a life of eternal wonder amongst the ruins of humanity.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Little Monsters #1 opens with an introduction to a group of children who live in a decimated city, seemingly by themselves. There’s Romie, who likes to draw on things. Yui, writes and spends her time with Lucas who’s a musician. There are the twins Ronnie and Raymond who enjoy climbing over things and jumping off buildings. Then there’s Billy, Bats, and Vickie, who spend their time playing capture the flag, except Billy starts to express boredom in their lives. Things then shift back to Romie who’s wandering around until something catches his attention. Elsewhere the rest of the children convene to share food they’ve found. As the sun rises they realize Romie isn’t there and Billy goes out to find him, but instead comes across something he wasn’t expecting.

SAYING A LOT WITHOUT TALKING

The thing that immediately stuck out to me in Little Monsters #1 was how sparse everything in this issue is. There’s very little talking, very little of anything really. All the characters sort of just languish about and go through the motions. This might sound like a boring comic and in a certain way it is, yet it feels very much like this is the point. All the conversations sound like the kind that these characters have had a dozen times and all the pastimes are just that, ways to pass the time not to actually enjoy. There’s a sense of ennui here that seeps through everything. That being said, the reveal at the end wasn’t very impactful and approaches predictableness. This ending though does little to diminish the exceptional way that this issue nails the particular emotion it’s trying to convey.

BLACK AND WHITE AND RED ALL OVER

For the most part, the art in Little Monsters #1 is well done. The black and white helps add to the mundaneness of the issue, while the little pops of red do well to break things up. Unfortunately at this point the black and white with small pops of color is a gimmick that’s been done so many times at this point that it feels like a hollow addition to this issue. Not having that color wouldn’t change much about this issue at all.

THE BOTTOM LINE: AN INTRIGUING SLOW BURN

Little Monsters #1 is a unique take on the vampire genre. The focus on the boring lives of these children is a bold approach that makes this a unique reading experience. The art in this issue adds a lot to the overall tone that the creators are going for, but the little additions of color come off as unnecessary and a bit cliche. 4 out of 5 stars.

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