Crime fiction in black and white
Creative Staff:
Story: Jonathan Kellerman
Art: Michael Gaydos
Adapter: Ande Parks
What They Say:
Two separate murders, strikingly similar in their grisly particulars, bring psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis together once again to pool their crime-solving skills in the hunt for a homicidal maniac. But they’re shocked to discover that another deranged murderer may be their best chance of cracking the case. Ardis Peake has been locked away in an asylum for the criminally insane for the last sixteen years, ever since he committed the horrifying massacre as a teenager that made him infamous—and earned him the nickname “Monster.” A pariah even among his fellow inmates, Peake is a lost cause to most of his doctors, and only staff psychologist Claire Argent took a keen interest in treating the caged killer—until she turned up brutally slain in the trunk of her car. It is a death made all the more disturbing by the fact that it was seemingly predicted by Monster.
While Milo searches for a connection between the killing of a struggling actor and Dr. Argent’s nearly identical murder, Alex wonders what spurred the reportedly shy psychologist’s intense fascination with the dangerously insane. But Claire Argent’s personal life proves as barren as the empty home she left behind, and neither her ex-husband nor her colleagues can fill in the cryptic blanks. Only Ardis Peake, whose barely functioning mind lies buried deep in psychosis, seems somehow inexplicably linked to the world from which he’s sealed off. And when he foresees another violent double slaying, Alex and Milo fear that their only hope of finding the truth—and stopping the bloodshed—may be to follow a strange and menacing path into the dark heart and twisted psyche of a madman.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a large part of American media devoted to crime investigation dramas and true crime dramatizations, it only makes sense that sequential art take up the genre. Monster represents the medium with excellent writing and strong, stylized art.
Based on Jonathan Kellerman’s novel, Monster follows psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis as they try to track down a serial killer who has left two victims whose bodies have had their eyes removed and “chopped up like hamburger.” With no clear connection between the two, they begin their investigation at the workplace of the most recent victim, Starkweather, the last stop for the criminally insane.
In the first pages, the investigators find a microcosm of the investigation. The patients who have committed horribly violent acts have been drugged to the point they have no real free will. Members of the staff reinforce the idea that the incarcerated have no connection to the outside world and Starkweather is a safer place than the outside world.
Ande Parks does a wonderful job of situating the text in dialog and narration from the characters. Crime fiction tends to be formulaic with little room for the narrative to expand from the familiar path. When it works, a reader should feel like the investigation provides an organic experience where the investigators naturally follow clues and expose truths that lead to the perpetrator of the crime. Monster does this well, condensing a novel to graphic form while maintaining a narrative that develops logically while building both moment and tension.
While the art is stylized, it offers realistic snapshots of men and women living their lives in modern day Los Angeles. Michael Gaydos, co-creator of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, utilizes a black ink approach to create a performance of negative space that focuses the reader on the characters’ body language and emotional reactions. While the high contrast illustrations may convey a harsh aesthetic, the use of perspective and minimal details isolates the characters in their world with more control than most TV actors on set. Readers have enough information to question motivations and see the facade characters have put on for the investigators.
Because this is detective fiction, discussing any details of the plot would undermine the book’s power for readers, but the structure of the work is given away early. Alex Delaware uses his knowledge of psychology to analyze the characters and the pattern of the crimes. He doesn’t have an omniscient understanding of the situation like a Sherlock Holmes, instead always questioning his own interpretation of the clues. His questions and doubts lead the reader through an organic uncovering of details, keeping the narrative from fissuring from an unlikely twist or failed leaps of faith. This strongly hinges on the ability of the dialog and narration to guide without forcing the reader through the mystery. Gaydos adapts the novel in a way that both the tone and fidelity of the characters remains firmly planted in a realist world.
In Summary:
Monster offers fans of crime fiction a satisfying taste of the genre in sequential art. With an exceptionally solid adaptation and art that conveys the nuances of human behavior, Kellerman’s characters take the reader through a mystery with the fallible logic of humans. With a slow burn narrative and a satisfying conclusion, this book demonstrates the versatility of the graphic novel while creating an entertaining reading experience.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: NA
Released By: Ballantine Books
Release Date: June 6th, 2017
MSRP: $26.00
