A review by carroq
Kaijumax Season One, Volume 1: Terror and Respect by Zander Cannon
4.0
I expected not to like this book. The idea is extremely silly. It features a maximum security prison designed to hold giant monsters akin to Godzilla. There are cliques, schemes, corrupt guards, and romance.
To be honest, it took me a while to differentiate between the various monsters. The early potion of the book jumps around a bit. Once it gains some more focus, the story starts to shine. It can be ridiculous at times, which is fine given the subject matter. I think it is easier to set aside some of the strange events because of the subject of the book. Yet, it addresses some real issues with prisons at the same time.
That is one of the strengths of the book. It gives the reader much more than they would expect going in. Yes there are some clichés that pop up. Cannon seems to include those more as homages to the things he loves more than anything else.
The art left me with mixed feelings. The styling is more like manga or anime. It fits the theme appropriately, but it didn't do a whole lot for me. I loved the color work though. It is flashy and bright in contrast to the dark events of the story.
This book is so far afield from what I would normally read and it's great. Definitely recommended for anyone that likes Godzilla (or other monsters), science fiction, or prison stories a la Orange is the New Black.
To be honest, it took me a while to differentiate between the various monsters. The early potion of the book jumps around a bit. Once it gains some more focus, the story starts to shine. It can be ridiculous at times, which is fine given the subject matter. I think it is easier to set aside some of the strange events because of the subject of the book. Yet, it addresses some real issues with prisons at the same time.
That is one of the strengths of the book. It gives the reader much more than they would expect going in. Yes there are some clichés that pop up. Cannon seems to include those more as homages to the things he loves more than anything else.
The art left me with mixed feelings. The styling is more like manga or anime. It fits the theme appropriately, but it didn't do a whole lot for me. I loved the color work though. It is flashy and bright in contrast to the dark events of the story.
This book is so far afield from what I would normally read and it's great. Definitely recommended for anyone that likes Godzilla (or other monsters), science fiction, or prison stories a la Orange is the New Black.