Griz’s government job turns into rescuing a monster from the Howling Gargoyles. But who is this unusual monster and why is everyone so interested in him? Find out in Monsters Are My Business #2 from Dark Horse Comics!

MONSTERS ARE MY BUSINESS #2

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Patrick Piazzalunga
Colorist: Marco Brakko
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Editor: Daniel Chabon
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 8, 2024

Previously in Monsters Are My Business: Griz is a detective who works with Cuddles, the koala, and a necromancer named Hillary, finding missing people in the Flooded Zone. One day, a government man, Owen Jenkin, has a job for Griz. Griz is leery, but Owen does pay in cash. He must extract a team from the clubhouse of a group of bikers called the Howling Gargoyles. But when Griz investigates, he finds a bunch of corpses and an odd, monstrous prisoner who asks to be released.

SPLIT SECOND DECISIONS

As Monsters Are My Business #2 opens, Griz, Cuddles, and the monster are on the docks in Floodtown, slowly making their way away from the clubhouse. The monster looks at Griz with his axe and Cuddles with his chainsaw and asks if they have a spare weapon. Griz is not sure about this yet. Besides, the monster does have claws and stuff.

An enormous rumble shakes the docks and out of a plume of water, Johnny Goathead appears. Johnny is a huge mutant-turned-enforcer. He knows Griz. Griz has pissed someone off, and Johnny was sent after him. Griz shoots him, which only makes him angry, and then runs for the car. As they leap into the small car, Johnny calls out that Mama Torment wants Griz dead.

Griz heads back home. The monster is impressed – his house seems really nice. Griz ushers him in but confers with Cuddles that with the Howling Gargoyles and Johnny Goathead after him, they may be looking at a fight.

Hillary looks through her books. She thinks the monster may be a servitor entity, a creature summoned to use as grunt labor. The problem it that the servitors have long been mindless extensions of another creature. This one seems different. And the monster talks. It remembers a time when it was just part of the great herd. Then something happened in its brain, and it started to have independent thoughts and to see itself as an individual. Then it started to wonder if it was alone, or if there were others like it.

Even though it is the middle of the night, the doorbell rings. Owen Jenkin arrives. He asks about the missing team. Griz cuts to the chase. Owen was looking for the monster they found. Owen starts to sweet talk Hillary, who entwines him in magic. She does not have the time for chit-chat. Owen agrees to talk. They think they are close to figuring out what the Ancients want, and that they have sleeper agents, ready for extraction.

There is more noise outside the house. Mama Torment arrives with the Howling Gargoyles.

CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

We get to meet the servitor monster in Monsters Are My Business #2, and his rather innocent speech is in stark contrast to his form. The monsters in this book are monstrous, covered in incongruous body parts, and the servitor is no exception. His head and arched neck are kind of horse-like, but his body is wrinkled and low to the ground. His two front legs are as flexible as human arms, but where we might expect hands or hooves, they end in broad pads sort of like suction cups. Supporting the middle of his body are a bunch of crab like legs, and to finish off his look, his abdomen and the top of his head are covered in extra eyeballs. Despite this, his face is expressive and full of puppy-dog-like appeal.

And then there is Johnny Goathead. He is monstrous with absolutely no endearing features. He has three huge eyes, two of which are merely bulgy, and the third of which has a small vertical pupil and a white which is honestly more of a dusky red. In addition to his muscular yet insect-like legs, he has tentacles with huge suckers on them. Lots of tentacles. As unearthly as he is, I found it horrifyingly funny that he talks like the thug-for-hire which he apparently is. It makes one wonder about who hires a thug like Johnny Goathead.

BOTTOM LINE: NEVER A DULL MOMENT

Monsters Are My Business #2 is a larger-than-life adventure story. We are deep enough in to understand that Griz’s involvement is only the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what weird twists are yet to come?

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