2023 EDIT: Part of my 2023 clear-up, of books I no longer like, or am no longer interested in, or remember well as standing out, or find as special anymore, or I otherwise will not miss.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
A touching and teary diverse horror graphic novel.
It's a more feminine and feminist retelling of (no less feminist pioneer) Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein', about a scientist, Frances Ai, who tries to bring her younger sister, Maura, back from the dead - always trying to achieve the impossible, with, um, successful mistakes along the way, and trying to deal with her grief and guilt. But the monster--no, the person, she "revives" isn't her sister. She has just created new life; suddenly and unexpectedly, someone new has been brought into existence, who will be looking to find herself and forge her own identity. But Frances doesn't care about any of that; she only wants her sister back, by any means. The person she brought to life in her sister's stitched up body, called "M", is terrified of being taken apart and dead again, so she attempts to pretend to be Maura, for Frances's sake as well as her own. She'll have help from the strangest place along the way...
However, living up to other people's expectations, and trying to be a literal replacement for someone else, is not living. Certainly not for M, created and born yesterday. What can she do when being an individual - being herself - could mean her actual death?
M is an experiment gone "wrong", and she is all alone in the world. Or is she? She is not a mistake, nor a monster, but will the grief-stricken Frances ever see that (when other characters have already)? Will she ever move on, and appreciate what's in front of her, in life?
Entertaining, tragic, and oddly charming, with appropriate teal and black and white and cute-leaning towards-creepy artwork, that is 'M Is for Monster' by debut graphic novel author Talia Dutton. The themes of grief, moving on, appreciating what is there and what you have, family, and identity are portrayed exceedingly well.
The characters are great. I love the representation of female scientists, even "mad" ones. Plus friendly old neighbour ladies. Frances is also married to her nonbinary assistant, Gin, who is funny and a right ol' charmer, and often the voice of reason, and in keeping Frances grounded and rational. The married couple are caring, comforting and supportive, and their chemistry is loving and lovely.
There are only, like, five characters in the whole comic, but it's enough for a minimal concept like this. It's set entirely on a hill/valley (with a giant tree to contemplate under, too), in an ambiguous time period. Very reminiscent of 'Frankenstein', only with a more positive and soft atmosphere and society.
Oh, and magic also exists (it's once called an "arcane source"), and is nonchalantly used in everything to do with science, including physics - even freaking aerodynamics - which is weird, and feels unnecessary, but whatever.
I feel like I've already summed up my thoughts and feelings on 'M Is for Monster', spoiler-free.
So here are my spoiler-y thoughts below:
Apparently ghosts exist in this world, on top of everything else, and Maura shows up as a mirror ghost who only M can see, hear, and talk to. Nice twist on the seeing-yourself-in-the-mirror-and-who-you-are-on-the-outside-isn't-who-you-are-on-the-inside theme there. It is with the snarky ghost's help that the newly born M manages to convince Frances that she is Maura - very poorly, mind you, but Frances is desperate enough that she wants to believe that her sister is back, despite everything. As strange as this whole plot development is, I have a theory on how it could work. The comic is subtle about it... or maybe it is unintentional, and isn't there, and I'm pulling it out of thin air. But regardless, here it is: A few times Frances talks about one of her science experiments involving telepathy and communicating through other planes of existence. Could the experiment have worked, in a way she didn't intend, like all her other experiments, and that's how Maura's "ghost" can communicate, through mirrors, from the "other side", or plane, that is death? A reflective mirrorverse, as it were? M can see Maura in these reflections because it is the dead woman's former life, her body, she now inhabits, and the communication and link stem from there. Kind of like a ley line between life and death.
Frances once says, near the beginning, that Maura never used to listen to her when she told her what to do... except it is a major point later that Maura used to always follow Frances and go along with her ideas and everything she did. In fact, the sisters had a lot in common, and loved science and talking, listening and learning from each other. Or does "since when do you [Maura] listen to me?" only apply to mundane things, like household chores, and getting out of bed in the morning, and not Maura being her older sister's guinea pig? It's not clear. Maybe it is meant to be a jokey line, I don't know.
Who is Asha? Does she live with the Ais' elderly neighbour, Dottie? Why? Who is she? Are Asha and Dottie a lesbian couple? It's not presented as such. Asha is barely in the comic, and she doesn't do anything. Why was she even included at all? She appears to be Indian, and the fact she is sidelined so carelessly - and given, like, one line, and no personality whatsoever - is problematic, even in a comic with Japanese main characters. Diversity should be carefully, thoughtfully implemented and all-encompassing.
I wish we could have explored M's sewing attraction and ambition more, and have gotten to know her as who she is as her own person. And could she also be nonbinary? That would have made the story and its LGBTQ+ themes even better.
And where are the sisters' parents? Are they dead too? They are only vaguely, offhandedly mentioned as part of flashbacks. Why don't they have anything to do with a storyline revolving around family loss and grief?
Lastly, the line in the blurb: 'Frances expects M to pursue the same path that Maura had been on—applying to college to become a scientist' - this is not in the comic itself. What college? Maura seemed way past college age, anyway, and she wasn't that much younger than the fully grown doctor Frances. Nowhere is anything like applying to college to become a scientist indicated. Either it is a lie, or someone in publishing seriously wasn't paying attention.
While I enjoyed 'M Is for Monster' less than, say, 'My Aunt Is a Monster', despite the former obviously, objectively being the superior graphic novel - the fun factor and personal tastes attribute to it - I still recommend it wholeheartedly. It is a wonderful debut.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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