Monsters Unleashed Vol. 1: Monster Mash

Monsters Unleashed (2017B) #1-5

by Cullen Bunn, David Baldeón

Unleash the monsters once again! Smashing out of the blockbuster event that terrorized the Marvel Universe comes a high-action sci-fi series starring a group of monstrous (and monstrously massive) do-gooders - including Kid Kaiju, Aegis, Slizzik, Scragg and Mekara! This new band of heroes has teamed with monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone, and together they'll take on gargantuan creatures and protect the planet from ruin and disaster. But will the rest of Earth's heroes allow them to help -or will they be deemed dangerous as well? COLLECTING: MONSTERS UNLEASHED 1-6

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Superheroes, Graphic Novels, Monsters, Fantasy

112 pages, Paperback

Published November 28, 2017

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[Paul]

SO MUCH FUN!

Giant monsters fighting? Check!

Elsa Bloodstone? Check!

HORDES AND HORDES OF MOLOIDS? CHECK!!!

Seriously, my growing obsession with Elsa Bloodstone is becoming almost as disturbing as my extremely unhealthy obsession with Moloids... She's the foul-mouthed, ultraviolent, British monster-hunter of my dreams... and not at all a rip-off of Buffy, nosirree, not one bit...

(Sorry about this review; I'm more than a little sleep-deprived...)

[Rosemary Standeven]

This comic book was a lot of fun to read. “When enormous creatures begin raining out of the sky, when a young boy can conjure monsters by doodling them, it tends to change the collective world view of the populace”. My view of the appeal of graphic novel also changed with this comic series.
The illustrations were so bright and colourful, almost psychedelic, packing a psychic punch to match the monsters’ blows. At times I was so dazzled that I found it difficult to concentrate on the story, but that didn’t really affect my enjoyment.
There was not a lot of character development – except for that of Moleman (“the swift unforgiving weapon of subterranean truth”). He begins the series as one of the baddies – and has a suitable evil face (i.e. slobbering, grimacing mouth with lots of teeth). However, he doesn’t quite fit in with the truly evil “New Intelligencia”. His goal is not world domination – he just wants his children to be brought back to life. As he realises the error of his ways, the violence of his image is toned down, and he becomes almost loveable, as do his moloids.
I thought having the character of Gloria Clark from Damage Control was gifted. In so many superhuman comics / films / fantasy books, the heroes lay waste to the world, so that you often wonder whether it was really worth them acting at all (“Team America”, John McLean, …). Gloria is there to ensure that Kei and his “cryptozooligical entities” do not run completely amok in any given “monster-based situation”, but are kept safe and supported when they need to be.
I am an avid watcher of “Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” on TV, and was rather bemused to find S.H.I.E.L.D being run by the inept Dum Dum Dugan (the name says it all). It must have been one of those times when Coulson was being side-lined.
While I am unlikely to make comics a large part of my life – I generally much prefer traditional text books – I will definitely consider reading more like this.

[Daniel]

This was good. I believe this one takes place after the first collected volume. The Mole Man is employed by a group of nefarious villains, who include Mr. Sinister, The Leader, and M.O.D.O.K, to kidnap Kid Kaiju and use his Inhuman ability to draw monsters and summon them to his aid. With a little help from his friends and the appearance of some new monster foes, this gets them to victory and in the end, allows S.H.I.E.L.D. to save face and apprehend these villainous enemies. I enjoyed that the government and Damage Control Inc. have banded together to provide Kid Kaiju and his family a nice, safe home on the island of Mu, where his created monsters also spend time with him. The are in this is really good and its got what I look for, giant monsters. Not as good as the first collected volume, but a really fun and entertaining read!

Danny

[Sail]

I honestly only picked this up because it was free at my local store.

Pros:
-Elsa Bloodstone was the best thing about this
-the monsters were KIND OF cool
-vibrant artwork
-some creepy dude named Mole Man

Cons:
-didn't really like the style of art
-the entire cast of villains
-Kid Kaiju didn't live up to my expectations
-they made Dum Dum Dugan look bad

Overall I enjoyed this volume but I probably won't be purchasing the next one!

[Quentin Wallace]

Not as good as the original limited series but still a good read. It comes across more as a comedy book than anything else, which isn't really a bad thing but isn't what I was expecting. This series didn't last long and I can tell already this type of book would be hard to pull off on a monthly basis anyway. A fun read, nothing more, nothing less.

[Rick]

Not as much fun as the original story, but Kid Kaiju is still a character full of potential. The villains, the New Intelligencia, are not handled very well - for being the villainous brain-trust that they purport to be - they're pretty stupid. And lame. But then that's half the fun, isn't it?

[Becky B]

Kid Kaiju is 11 and can draw monsters to life. He and 5 of his monster friends have been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to fight off other monsters who have been unleashed on the Earth. They work with Elsa Bloodstone, a monster fighter, to save the world. Kid Kaiju has gained himself enough notoriety a certain nefarious group wants to use him and his skills for their own purposes, and they'll do whatever it takes to get their hands on him.

I had never heard of this comic before, but I saw it at the bookstore and it looked like something that the students at my school might enjoy. I gave it a shot, and I'm very glad I did. This was very fun. It felt like a mashup of The Rithmatist, Big Hero 6 (but with living parents), and Pacific Rim. Kid Kaiju is a likable character to follow around, with wisdom beyond his age (he handles one encounter with a bad guy very tactfully and ends up helping bring positive change in the guy's life), and his monster friends' personalities are hilarious. I also like that he is biracial. The plot is exciting and moves at a good pace. And I love Kaiju's mom. (The dressing down she gives a certain Agent of SHIELD for forgetting his priorities was quite entertaining.) Highly recommended for middle grade on up who like action comics, unlikely superheroes, imaginative monsters, and great characters.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. (A bad lady alien the bad guys call up is dressed in basically a swimsuit, but it is just barely more on the ok side than the scandalous side.) There are several battles, but I didn't notice any fatalities, more minor injuries (and minimal blood).

[Yuiko]

Idky their is so many bad reviews over this new series.it could probably be their not the targeted audience or whatever. Now I don't normally like when they keep changing artist. But I think they really did well on blending the artist together it looks like one person did it. The monsters designs really cool and the fusion of them all together was epic. Now this series is one of those series where each comic has a crossover. I mean who doesn't like crossovers. The only thing I didn't like was how they drew dun dun Dugan they made him look like a dofus
Hahah. My favorite characters are Elsa Bloodstone and hi vo the lighting monster. I can't wait to read the rest of the series. You guys should totally check it out. Lots of action cool battle scenes 😁😁

[ISMOTU]

I love monsters, I love Elsa Bloodstone, and I love tokusatsu tv shows. This book seems made for my 12 year old self and since I'm no longer 12 I think that may be the reason I don't like it as much as I wanted to. It's well done but something just didn't click for me. Cullen Bunn does good work (I love Harrow County) and the art is good but I keep comparing the monsters to Kirby monsters and no one can top Kirby monsters.

[Valerio Pastore]

Qui abbiamo l'arco della Nuova Intelligenza, che vuole trasformare Kid Kaiju in un'arma per i propri scopi. Trama molto basilare, con uno stato dell'arte che premia tantissimo i mostri ma che gli umani li rende al limite del grottesco. Lo SHIELD ne esce malissimo. Elsa Bloodstone è puro Girl Power ma senza essere didascalico: ella è donna tosta, tostissima e se non fosse per lei Kid Kaiju se la sarebbe passata pure male male.

[Daniel Butcher]

I can see what Marvel is doing here making a comic that kids can relate to...shocking. And it really does scratch an inch for the monster crowd.

My favorite moment is Dum Dum basically linking this story to the old Godzilla stories.

[Colin Oaten]

Companion title to Marvels Monsters Unleashed event in which Kid Kaiju and Elsa Bloodstone lead their team against attacks co-ordinated by the new Intelligencia amid their interest in Kid Kaijus abilities. And when SHIELD enter the mix, the monsters team find themselves facing a double threat.

[Josef Ploski]

This book was a lot of fun. If you were a chld in the 1990's you will probably hear the Might Morphin' Power Rangers theme song, the 80s you might hear Voltron. Not Eisner award winning plot but a great little book for any kid or adult who likes monsters and seeing them fight.

[Villain E]

Better than I thought it would be. A new Intelligencia takes an interest in Kid Kaiju. Guest starring the Mole Man and Lady Hellbender.

The kaiju characters could be more developed. The art is decent, but sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on.

[Matthew Ledrew]

what is Mr Sinister doing here with these people? his presence makes no sense.

[Louie]

Much better when just focusing on Kei and Elsa, rather than involving the whole Marvel U into the giant monster antics.

[gremlinkitten]

Perhaps more like 3.5 stars, but I like Scragg so much I'm uprating it. :D

[Patrick]

2.5 Stars

[Kurt]

There was actually nothing wrong w/ the writing or art of this. I just couldn't care less about any of these characters.

[B]

This book, as with the previous volume, cheapens all the marvel characters it uses.

Other than that and its overt simplicity, it's fine.

[Brannigan]

I really like this series. I love monsters and mole man. I love the humor and action. It’s a great series.

[jason_not_derulo]

It’s okay!

[Jesse Brown]

was a great read!

[James]

Interesting concept, mediocre story. I like the Bloodstones. Shield weren't effective at all. Digimon...

[Rhys Causon]

Sure not the strongest story but I loved it for the same reason I love Pacific Rim. Giant monster battles!


Several years later, I cannot say I agree with the first review… this was not as enjoyable as the other Monsters Unleashed story I have reread recently and though the art is decent for the monsters for the most part, the other characters just feel a little off or a little too still in places.