At this point, the Mark Spears Monsters series is practically an entire comic book industry on its own. This first issue has been printed an astonishing number of times, and there are around 70 variant covers available for comic #1 alone. It’s caused quite a stir amongst comic fans and collectors, to say the least.

Is this first issue any good though? Let’s find out!

A wall of text gives us our background to the world created by Mark Spears, with details of a mysterious vault and a hidden key amongst other things revealed at the outset. Then a murder, a mysterious visitor, a vampire, a Slayer and a dire warning over the course of the issue.

It’s a bit of a weird beast. Thanks to its reliance on the realistic, digitally created, often luridly coloured artwork, it does feel very much like a case of style over substance. It somehow feels both insubstantial and too busy all at once, thanks to its collection of so many scenes in which little happens, with its various threads all seemingly unconnected at this point.

Even the art itself, which the series is known for, feels overly stiff and lifeless despite its attempts at a realistic look. Though apparently Spears used 3D modelling and painting software to achieve its unique (and often ugly, in my opinion) look, it has a suspiciously AI-esque approach, especially given the disjointed, incoherent narrative.

The final scene feels almost completely lifted wholesale from classic, 80s comedy horror The Monster Squad too.

It’s really hard to see what the fuss is about after reading this debut issue; if ever there was a comic which has gained its popularity on the strength and sheer, countless variety of its covers alone, it’s Mark Spears Monsters.

Do things improve as the series progresses? Your guess is as good as mine. I resisted this long in seeing what the fuss was all about, and honestly I don’t think I’ll bother catching up with it any further.

Having lucked into finding this issue in one of its fourth printing variants for a good price at Southampton Comics, unless I can find the next issues cheaply, I won’t bother trying to catch up. It’s that bad, and that’s coming from someone who’s a big fan of the classic monsters this series is supposed to be a love letter to!

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