Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3 Review

 

Writers: Dan Watters & Ram V

Artist: Matthew Roberts

Colorist: Trish Mulvihill

Letterer: DC Hopkins

Cover Artists: Matthew Roberts & Dave Stewart; Julian Totino-Tedesco; Dani & Brad Simpson; Anwita Citriya; David Talaski

Publisher: Image

Price: $4.99

Release Date: June 26, 2024

 

Darwin Collier tried to kill Kate Marsden. Haunted by her brush with death, the journalist pursued the former Marine from her home in the United States to a remote village in Peru. Kate reports on what she can prove. So when fishermen pull drowning victims from the Amazon, Kate dismisses talk of a local legend. Likewise, she ignores the carved wooden images of the Creature in a vendor's stall. But then the Creature saves her from drowning. When Kate ventures into the jungle to apprehend Collier, the Creature saves her again. Or at least, so she remembers. What drives Kate and those involved in her quest? Let's grab our knives and rifles, leap into Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3, and find out!

 

Story

Collier victimized Kate. He tried to drown her in the Hudson River. She told herself she wanted justice. But the stark reality of life in the jungle leaves its mark on her. Now, she doesn't care about dragging Collier back to the United States and testifying against him in court. She just wants to kill him. The Creature may have helped her. But in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3, Kate's through being a victim. She's willing to become a monster to kill another. If the Creature can help her accomplish that, all the better!

 

The Creature victimized Dr Edwin Thompson. One swipe of its claws left Edwin disfigured. For thirty years, he’s endured people’s reactions to his appearance. The severed nerves in Edwin's face impinge on his sleep. So he fled civilization and took up the cause of his friend Dr Carl Maia. But if his mission is to understand how life evolved from the ocean to land, why is he fixated on this Creature?

 

Civilization victimized Christiano’s family. When they fell on the wrong side of the political jungle, his family fled the We’re Right And The Other Party Is Wrong crowd to live with the indigenous people of Peru. Like the fires that rise when loggers cut down trees and burn foliage to create grazing land, malaria burned through Christiano in his youth. He may not have a wooden idol of the Creature in his room at Dr Edwin Thompson's house, but he revels in the mysterious nature of the jungle and reveres the Creature as its guardian spirit.

 

Civilization victimized Darwin Collier. The Marine Corps unleashed an unquenchable thirst for violence. When they threw him out, he couldn’t adjust to civilian life. After Collier fled the United States to share his Marine Corps skills with others, his drug trafficking employers abandoned him when his hunger for death resurfaced. As he hides from civilization and those who wish to kill him, Collier finds a new purpose in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3.

 

 

Art

Kate swims in the river near Edwin's home. She doesn't know how much of what she's seen is real or imagined. The ripples in the water evoke the Creature's green, scaly hide. Yet the netting Christiano laid on the ground galvanizes her. She slices off a portion and hurls it onto Edwin’s desk. That evening, as Kate sits on the roof and watches the flames leaping above the trees, Christiano’s gaze drifts to her cigarette and the fire ravaging the packed tobacco. As Kate and Christiano share their near-death experiences, faces dance with skulls in the raging flames.

 

Trish Mulvihill lavishes a loaded palette on Matthew Roberts' relatable characters, drama-fueled encounters, and the explosive finale in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3. Light spears the muggy jungle, casting leafy shadows upon Kate’s head and shoulders. The vibrant green forest contrasts with the calming beige and tan in Edwin’s home. Still, he tames the Creature by sketching it in black and white. The yellow and orange fires reflect off rivers and streams while orange and mauve spirits invade the purple skies.

 

DC Hopkins carves uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The font grows bold for intonation, swells for elevated voices, and never shrinks. Sound effects help us hear a knife thrust and a gunshot. Yet an enlarged final sentence may shock readers most in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3. Thanks to Universal Studios, Skybound, and Image Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

In Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3, Dan Watters and Ram V pit the people who inhabit nature with those who violate it to enhance their status in civilization. The jungle of Peru becomes a battleground between those who burn for revenge and those who seek to become something more.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.