A review by unrealpunk
Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie Liu

4.25

The first four issues of this volume are fantastic but the art takes a big step down in the last three, especially issues 16 and 17.  The one main weakness of Monstress so far has been the occasional tendency for the paints to get a bit too muddy and murky,  especially in fight scenes that involve dark tentacles and dark hair mixing with mutilated and bloody bodies, at the same time the storytelling gets a bit rushed, so that it becomes difficult to tell what's happening.  There were only a few isolated incidents of this in the first two volumes, and overall I thought the painting was improving with a wider palette bringing in more bright colors, but then the murky mishmash completely takes over the better part of the last three issues here.  I don't mind the darkness or the fighting, I just wish it was a bit clearer, maybe with some solid blacks and more contrast to make things easier on the eyes instead of shrouding everything in the same shade of murk.  Hopefully the high standards set by the series' first 15 issues will return in volume 4. (Update — Yes!  Volume 4 is the first volume that gets a full 10/10 five-star rating from me.)

I've made a habit of rereading these volumes before getting on to the next, and I was able to enjoy the dark issues much more on the second go-around, after I'd already deciphered the murk and more-or-less knew what was supposed to be happening.  There are still a number of panels where I couldn't really tell you what's what, but I was able to appreciate the art more for what it is.  If you want to do it justice though, make sure you've got not decent but extremely good light.  It might even be worth getting a digital version to see it backlit.