I Eat Monsters #1

Written by Justin Gray
Art by Rui Silveira
Colors by Thyago Brandao
Letters by Benny Lava
Cover Logo: Ed Lavallee

“I Eat Monsters combines thrilling action, mystery, and horror in this mature readers limited series by writer Justin Gray – Jonah Hex, Standstill, Bill the Kit – and artist Rui Silveira – Netflix’s Superdrag, The Few and the Cursed: Shadow Nation, Spicy Pulp: Lady Redbeard Doing Time.
Left alone to watch her three brothers, 9-year-old Annabelle is confronted by a childhood nightmare come to life when a monster from under the bed viciously attacks her siblings.
Desperate to save them, Annabelle fights back with the only weapon she has -her teeth, and from that moment nothing will be the same. Decidedly not for children, *language, gore, and violence! Monsters! Magic! Mayhem and Psychedelic Psychosis! Bleeding Pulp has it all!”

The one thing that immediately struck me about this book was the quality that went into not only story creation, but also the quality of the physical book. This leads to really getting to enjoy the story at a higher level.

Justin Gray is creating a story here that once it reaches the heart of the story is so much damn fun. But to get to the fun, we have to start in a dark place. Meet Annabelle’s family, who appears to be from Alabama (due to an Alabama vs Florida football game playing – and that score, though true, is hurtful to the Gators fan in me). This is a family that is dysfunctional but feels very real because of that. The siblings fight each other, but at the end of the day, all very much care for each other. So when one gets injured in a sibling fight, Annabelle is left to watch over her other brothers while their parents take the injured child to the hospital. Let’s just say monsters know when the best time to strike is.

Silveira’s artwork is top-notch and not only do you feel how realistic the “normal” scenes are but the monsters and more fantastical elements also begin to feel very real as you experience the artwork. Between Silveira’s art and Brandao’s colors, there’s a good chance you’ll be having nightmares over these monsters. The details that go into each of the scenes with Silveira’s lines are fantastic and lead to a level of immersion into the gore and horror of Annabelle’s life. Benny Lava has some fun with the letters by not staying in the word bubble very frequently to enhance the horror and the panic of our character’s situation.

We get a time jump to 17 years after the initial story period that really deepens the mystery surrounding Annabelle and her monster-eating abilities. Gray is having a ton of fun with this character and throwing these new situations at her. I can’t wait to see more of Annabelle as the Kickstarters continue. Currently, Bleeding Pulp is planned for 6 issues with I Eat Monsters running through all 6.

Madam Beldam & The Order of Zadok #1

Written by Justin Gray
Art and Lettering by Miljenko Simic
Colors by Alessia Nocera
Lettering and Design by Benny Lava

“It is 1930, writer H.P. Lovecraft Summons Madam Beldam, a beautiful young woman possessed by a witch, and the pair embark on a perilous journey to stop an ancient space god from destroying the world!”

This Lovecraftian tale is an excellent second story to bleeding pulp and takes us on a whole new adventure of monster horror – this time with more magic, a witch, and a naked lady – who happen to be on in the same. When H.P. Lovecraft’s friend is missing and thought to be taken by The Order of Zadok, Lovecraft knows the best thing to do is summon a woman possessed by a witch, because duh, that’s the best answer to that problem. This is another fun and dark story with a Lovecraft monster twist. Reading this story really feels like it is taking place in the 1930s as Justin Gray keeps the characters’ vernacular set for that time period.

Miljenko Simic keeps us centered in that era with artwork and character designs to match. I love when a comic can truly immerse you into a different environment and era and this one does just that with Simic’s lines and Alessia Nocera’s colors. Currently, Bleeding Pulp is planned for 6 issues with Madam Beldam running through the first 2.

Bleeding Pulp #1-2 is now on Kickstarter!

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jvgray/bleeding-pulp-2?ref=profile_backed

Bleeding Pulp #1 is also available now on https://www.jvgray.com/