For decades, Dark Horse Comics has embraced the strange and unusual. Cullen Bunn’s Monsters Are My Business is just that with the potential to join campy fan favorites like Dark Horse’s other hits, The Umbrella Academy and R.I.P.D. on any comic lovers’ shelf.
Readers are introduced to a colorful cast of characters from the very beginning, the story’s hero Tanner “Griz” Grisholm who just so happens to be a monster-hunting biker, a necromancer named Hillary who has nothing but bad intentions for Griz and his soul and Cuddles, his companion — a small but mighty chainsaw-wielding koala.
From start to finish, the story is a nonstop adventure, giving the characters no time to rest and instead showing readers just why Griz and friends have a long line of customers looking for their monster-hunting expertise.
The first issue doesn’t spill all of the details about their business, nor does it give very much insight into the characters’ lives, but this is just what gets people to keep reading. The less readers know, the better and the more pages they are left turning.
Comic artist Patrick Piazzalunga’s art style, coupled with Marco Brakko’s coloring, perfectly captures the story, giving it just the right amount of violence and cartoony monster gore while not being too incredibly off-putting. From the cover, readers are introduced to the danger of Griz’s world.
Each character, whether they’re a faceless background character or front and center, is full of personality and uniqueness. The backgrounds of each panel really portray a postapocalyptic literal pit of despair that is the home to these unlucky souls, letting readers see through the illustrations that the conflict is all around and never-ending.
Fans of monster hunting classics such as Supernatural and Ghostbusters are sure to feel right at home with the plot of Monsters Are My Business. It’s a familiar story yet also entirely its own, giving such an overused storyline something never before seen.
The story does need a bit less of a rush into action because at times, the constant danger and conflict can get overwhelming and confusing. The overarching conflict of the story can get jumbled and lost in the plot which only leaves readers wondering what the main focus should be at the moment. Knowing more about the characters might help to form more of an attachment to them, otherwise throwing them into harm’s way doesn’t always have the effect that the writer wants.
Each panel of the story is an adventure and one readers won’t regret actually devoting time to reading. For fans of horror and even those who can’t stomach the dark and spooky, Monsters Are My Business is a thrilling, engaging read with visuals that bring it all together, a testiment that teamwork really can create greatness. While the plot doesn’t develop perfectly, the comic itself lacks any drastic flaws and still proves to be entertaining and intriguing. For comic fans old and new, it is a wild ride worth picking up and it has the potential to build up an ever growing fanbase as more issues roll out.
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