TokuNet Comics Corner: Pacific Rim and Monstress

The first week of November sees the return of Pacific Rim to the world of comics, and the debut of new original series, Monstress.

Pacific Rim: Tales from the Drift #1: When Pacific Rim was first released, it was accompanied by the release of the prequel comic, Tales From Year Zero. The comic gave reader a glimpse into the larger world Travis Beacham and Guillermo Del Toro built around the film. Now that a sequel may be on the way, they decided to release a new, ongoing series that goes even deeper into the war between Jaegers and Kaiju.

The title, Tales from the Drift, is pretty literal as readers see events through a series of flashbacks experienced by two currently drifting pilots. Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov (Elk’s Run, Echoes, Doctor Who) and artist Marcos Marz (Batman Confidential, Blackest Night: JSA) put together a gripping tale of the married couple piloting Tacit Ronin, and detail how their lives have been connected to the war against the Kaiju since the day they met.

Monstress #1: Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda reunite for the first time since their stint on X-23 to bring readers a dark fantasy about one girl out for revenge and the dark secret she tries desperately to suppress. The subject matter in this book is pretty dark. It features plenty violence, slavery, and other grim subjects, but the storytelling is top notch. The triple-sized issue features plenty world-building, but not to the detriment of storytelling or establishing the characters.

The kaiju element in this one is a little more abstract than our usual fare, but it appears to be building to something amazing.