We Kill Monsters #1 (0f 6) (Red 5 – Harkcom / Leone / Churilla / Pattison)
Two unassuming auto repair shop owners discover that monsters are infesting the world. When they are attacked, the glowing blue juice from the monster’s brain heals his arm and saves Jake’s life. But this gift only begins a life-long link to the monster invasion.
Ok, so probably not for the early elementary student, but still pretty enjoyable and safe!
I’m a child of the 80’s and since my kids were born I have been complaining about not having good action-adventure Saturday morning cartoon to watch with my kids (yea, like my dad watched Spider-man’s Amazing Friends with me… anyway). While it’s not in animation form (at least not yet), Red 5 delivers a family-safe, family-focused kick and punch book with We Kill Monsters
The book follows two adult brothers (Drew and Jake) who work and live together and have their share of problems (finances, family business, ex-girlfriends), but watch out and obviously care for each other (hence, the family-focus). The older one is a little bit more socially-centered while the younger is more mechanically inclined, but they balance each other out and make a good team. Before it sounds like this is uber-cheesy… it’s not!… It’s just in the comicdom landscape, it’s refreshing to find an good adventure story, where you have two honest-to-goodness good guy heroes and there is a lack of cursing and superfluous jutting female anatomy. For the zero tolerance parent – there is one “hell”, one scene in a bar, some blood and some monster-fighting type violence.
Once we meet the brothers and the scene is set, the action comes fast. One night, a big ugly seemingly comes out of nowhere and attacks, the brothers take him (her?) down and haul the body home. Jake, the younger brother, get fatally wounded in the battle. The next morning they find that the monster’s blood has healed Jake, but has given him a scaly and super-strong “monster” arm, not to mention “monster”-sense. The next day the monster’s mate shows up. The brothers pull a quick MacGyver and turn their tow truck into a Road Warrior worthy creature-fighting truck. Chaos ensues and a good time is had by all the readers.
Down the road, my guess is the brothers use the family garage as a cover for their monster-hunting business. Don’t know if that’s the direction, but I cannot wait to find out! This is part Buffy, part Supernatural and part Ghost Busters minus the sexual overtones that makes those properties not appropriate for the twelve year old!
Check out the trailer at WeKillMonsters.com
A Phenomenal read! Big juicy, scaly A!
