Cryptids, urban legends, conspiracies and more are brought to light in Strange Nation, the MonkeyBrain book from writer Paul Allor and artist Juan Romera. Following Norma Park as she loses her mainstream journalism career over a crazy conspiracy, it mixes crazy tabloid stories with character drama to make a unique story full of crazy creatures and insane conspiracies.
In this issue, big things are revealed about the story of Strange Nation and about the fate of Earth itself as Norma learns more about the mysterious Dr. Milo! In the middle of it all, a small town is the battlefield in a huge sasquatch on sasquatch fight, the reader learns about the powerful and mysterious Sons of Jupiter, an elderly Elvis saves people from a sasquatch stampede, and much, much more. Strange Nation packs a lot into the 12 pages.
Writer Paul Allor is definitely building the world of Strange Nation up and giving it a lot of good mythology and history. The way he’s connected sasquatches, aliens, and cults so easily together in this world is great. The way some of the secondary characters are slowly being fleshed out is doing the book all sorts of favors, with Jesse, Dr. Milo, and Merc all being interesting enough to carry their own stories, but still taking a back seat to the ever interesting Norma Park.
Juan Romera has a style that really works well for this book. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone draw a bunch of sasquatches fighting each other, but I don’t think many could make it look as fantastic as Romera did. His style fits well with the various cryptids that he has to draw, making them recognizable but also something all his own. It strikes a fine balance between realism and cartooning that will surely do the comic well as the story delves further into the crazy and unknown.
Strange Nation, like many MonkeyBrain titles, is an incredibly imaginative and inventive book. While each issue is only a dozen or so pages, it often seems to contain more actual story than many of the larger companies can pack in 20 or 22 pages. And for just 99¢ on Comixology, it’s a fantastic deal. Issues 1 through 3 can also be found for just 99¢ each.
Art: 9/10
Script: 10/10
Parental Concern: Some sasquatch on sasquatch violence. Pretty tame, really.
