City in the Desert Volume 1: Review

I take a brief break from Marvel to review a new graphic novel from Archaia from brand spanking new artist and creator Moro Rogers. The first volume of a multi-part series, The Monster Problem weave a story around some iconic sci-fi classics like Frank Herbert’s Dune with fun art that definitely proves Moro already has a unique and fun style all her own.

Fans of the Monster Hunter franchise, which I proudly played for the first time at Comic Con but sucked so badly that I didn’t bother to write about it, will notice some familiar fun in The Monster Problem. 

Swashbuckler Irro and his partner Hari star in the novel as one of the last monster hunters in a changing world. This isn’t to say it’s a world lacking in scary people-munching monsters. Instead, people are beginning to tire of the cycle of existing day to day before eventually becoming monster food. Hunters like Irro and Hari are no longer the heroes of a civilization whose focus has started to shift to trade and desire for Swatch Watches

. It’s no wonder then that the local town is quickly taken in by an “enlightened” soothsayer who promises that the key to an instantaneous monster solution is to royally piss off their old and primitive gods.

The environment in City in the Desert is a great time. Moro really captures the cold and heat of the desert, though I have to say its her command of facial expressions that earned my obviously well-respected to recommendation. Every panel has a little humor and action that kept me entertained throughout the entire 140+ page novel.  Moro has produced a hell of a first project-something amazing to see from a female creator.
City in the Desert: The Monster Problem can be found in comic shops right now, and will be in book stores on the 27th!