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| COVER A BY NICK WINN |
It took losing their bodies to realize how much they meant to each other. They may have disagreed who was the biggest butt cheek. But even as ghosts, Finn and Jake discovered they could still be adventurers. Now that they have their bodies (and butt cheeks) back, where will Finn and Jake travel next? And will they enjoy the detours as much as they do the destination?
Here's all the info from Oni Press:
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Writer: Sophie Campbell
Artist: Matt Frank & Sophie Campbell
Letterer: Nathan Widick
Cover Artists: Sophie Campbell & Nicole Goux
Editor: Jake Williams
Publisher: IDW
Price: $4.99
Release Date: April 16, 2025
Antra protected the Earth. Yet something drove the kaiju to attack Mothra before the queen of the monsters could lay an egg. Shorn from her family, Mira grew up in Mothra’s carcass. Mira scrounged abandoned shops for food while avoiding Antra's drones in the ruined city. All that changed when her sister found her. Mothra's priestesses cared for Emi. They trained her in musical magic. A dream led Emi to Mira. But her sister and the tiny priestesses also led a strange bug-eye creature to Mira’s home.
Now, the sisters are on the run. The priestesses need their help to bring another Mothra into a world dominated by Antra. Can Mira and Emi find another Mothra egg and rejuvenate their dying planet? Or will the bug-eyed creatures extinguish all hope for the future? Let's warm our voices, leap into Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #2, and see!
Story
Mothra’s priestesses helped the sisters open a portal to the prehistoric era. Mira and Emi arrived at a grand view of a riparian valley. Dinosaurs wandered through the forest while a twisting river wound past a smoking volcano before emptying into the sea. Sophie Campbell's story opens with an armored dinosaur pursuing the sisters. As they race past a bug-eyed creature like the one that attacked Mira's home, another Mothra attacks the strange monster. The tiny priestesses who accompany the prehistoric Mothra expected the sisters’ arrival. They lead Mira and Emi toward the egg while a therapod with spine ridges attacks the spiky, armored dinosaur.
The sisters accompany the priestesses and the prehistoric Mothra to a hidden, underground temple. Mira hadn't realized that Mothra would have priestesses in this period. She wonders what else Emi hasn't told her. Like the monsters they serve, the priestesses sense the ebb and flow of life. They can tell the sisters haven't worked together long. Worse, Mothra's priestesses realize Mari and Emi aren't in tune with each other in Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #2.
With the girls prone to argument and unused to working together, the priestesses worry that their magic could go wrong. But the priestesses have little time to train the recently reunited sisters and help them trust each other. Mari and Emi must open a portal and speed the egg to the future. Like Mothra and Antra, the Dragon Queen has sensed the girls' intrusion into this time. It yearns to devour Mothra’s egg and increase its power. The girls' disharmony blazes like a beacon of light, drawing the Dragon Queen toward the egg in Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #2.
Art
Matt Frank and Sophie Campbell fill their time travel tale with dinosaurs, flying dragons, bug-eyed “dragonflies,” three different Mothras, and Antra and her drones. While Emi’s priestesses resemble children, their prehistoric forebears look like seasoned warriors adorned with face paint and carrying spears. Aside from their hairstyles, Emi and Mari look alike as they fun, argue, and weave ritual music.
After their flight through the verdant jungle, the sisters enter a gray world illuminated by glowing drawings. The luminous blocks resemble a labyrinth from the ground and a symbol from the air. Emi and Mari’s red attire fades as they glimpse a striped blue egg amid light-blue mushrooms. Swirls of color surround the sisters as they burst into song. Then, a purple dragon senses the green-and-pink portal opening and rushes to prevent the girls from transporting it to their gray world.
Nathan Widick incants black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons in Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #2. The priestesses speak smaller white letters into pink balloons. The letters swell for volume, grow bold for intonation, and shrink for lowered voices. Monsters receive stylish introductions and fill the pages with vibrant colored sound effects as they rampage, attack, and turn Mari’s simmering anger into boiling rage. Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Mira grew up hating Mothra because she didn't save her family. Now, she must act as a guardian to a young Mothra the priestesses claim will save her world. But her sister and the tiny priestesses haven’t told Mira the entire truth in Mothra: Queen of the Monsters #2. And time travel is a complicated business. Even with precise calculations, the sisters could fly through a paradox. And that would end their hopes for a better future, wouldn't it?
Rating 9.2/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
