Review – Monolith #3
Review – Monolith #3
Written by ROBERTO RECCHIONI & MAURO UZZEO
Illustrated by LRNZ
Published by Magnetic Press
Volume 1 Issue 3 Available: 28th July 2021
Full 192 page Hardback Available on 3rd August 2021 (at Waterstones)
BGCP review Issue 1 & 2 here
Synopsis
Time is running out for Sandra, David is trapped and the sun has risen, the car will shortly become his tomb if she can’t find a way in. Can she find help or her phone?
MONOLITH 3 WRITERS: ROBERTO RECCHIONI & MAURO UZZEO
After the amazing second issue last week we find Sandra drifting in and out of sleep on the top of the Monolith. Her mind drifts back to a time when Carl explains the security of the car but in her hatred for him, she didn’t listen. Awaking she steels herself to find her phone or another way in.
Poor David, stuck in the car, is confused, hot and hungry but she must leave him. She climbs a high rock for bearings and spots a small building shining in the shimmering desert heat. Running in she finds an old weather station, complete with power, a phone and an empty coke can.
An old-style PC is uselessly stuck in PowerShell mode, but she spots a giant lug wrench that has a snake has curled around it and it bites her. What follows is a strange hallucination where the art style moves from painted to drawn and Sandra has a conversation with a lizard in a spacesuit.
Uzzeo and Rechchioni use this issue to focus completely on Sandra and her own bad habits, from smoking while pregnant to not listening to Carl when he explained how the car needs to work. Fighting through her hallucinations she struggles back to the car with a new focus on fighting to save herself and David.
WRITER: LRNZ
LRNZ creates another perfect issue, the shimmering sun paintings of Sandra wandering the desert, as well as the snake attack (above), show an artist with a perfect eye for balancing action with minimal dialogue and narration. Swapping the style halfway through the issue has an Oz-like quality on the reader and we get to experience Sandra’s trip in a slightly altered state.
The use of the double-page walking montage, with almost 30 mini-panels helps show time lapsing quickly without bulking up the issue. The infinity loop helps us imagine being lost in an endless desert with limited focal points walking around in frustrating circles.
Overall Thoughts
Two perfect issues over two weeks mean I’m hoping that for that Hardback launch next week we get the final stunning issue. This issue helps the reader finally find empathy for Sandra the typical bad mother always making bad decisions, with her finally taking responsibility and resolving to help David. If I were you I’d be pushing my retailer to get a copy of both the issues and the Hardback.
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