QUICK REVIEW: 'Monarch' #3 by Rodney Barnes, Alex Lins, and Luis NCT

 

MONARCH #3

Writer: Rodney Barnes

Artist: Alex Lins, Mar Silvestre Galotto, Luis NCT

Letters: Marshall Dillon

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: April 12, 2023

Cover Price: $3.99

"STRANGER FROM ABOVE," Part Three

An alien invasion has rocked the world and no one is safe! Young Travon's desperate search for rations for the surviving students has put him face-to-face with these strange visitors who've hunted and killed everything in their path. But why have they let him live thus far? And just when things couldn't get any worse, betrayal strikes from the unlikeliest of places, turning everyone's world upside down!

From RODNEY BARNES, the star comics writer behind the Eisner-nominated series KILLADELPHIA and the writer/executive producer of HBO's Winning Time, and up-and-coming Marvel artist ALEX LINS comes a tale of love, triumph, disaster, and defeat!

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

'Monarch' #3 explores the perspective of different characters which makes this issue the most character-driven providing plenty of depth. From Marli's sweet remembrance of Trayvon and how he was different to Daysha and Kurtis's desperate search for classmates in the damaged school, Rodney Barnes personalizes the experiences of these kids amid an alien invasion determined to terraform the earth for themselves and most of all the guilt Trayvon feels for betraying the very people that loved him. The aliens sense his allegiance to the humans which puts him in danger too. Written with so much pathos, heart, and suspense, it's impossible not to root for these kids despite the destructive power of the aliens. Barnes adds another layer of terror that's unexpected and that ratchets up the urgency in the story.  Alex Lins, Mar Silvestre Galotto, and Luis NCT do an extraordinary job of conveying the world before and after the invasion with a pace and composition that is starkly different but fully realized. The versatility to jump from flashbacks to the present day is highly effective but Trayvon's walk with the superimposed images of the aliens' path of destruction is haunting and unnerving. 'Monarch' centers characters from an often overlooked part of America that's no less vital or important than any other. It's a refreshing sci-fi thriller that echoes Spielberg with a darker edge.