Maude is not a camp counselor. Nevertheless, Maude is looking after a few little kids at camp. They aren’t relatively as little as they used to be. This has little to do with their natural growth and a lot to do with the fact that they no longer fit in the palm of Maude’s hand. Maude needs to keep a level head if she and the kids are going to survive in the final issue of Man-Eaters: The Cursed. Writer Chelsea Cain, graphic artist Lia Miternique, and artist Kate Niemczyk once again delve into the strange satirical world of Man-Eaters for another thoroughly entertaining combination of drama, comedy, and comedic graphics.

Frogs. They’re on the run from frogs. (Big ones.) Usually, they’d be safe. Frogs don’t normally attack people unprovoked. The fact that the frogs inhabit a camp that has a history with witches? That makes things complicated. (Frogs have a history with witches too. They’re not exactly friendly.) if Maude can get all of her fellow campers safely away from the frogs, there are further concerns involving space-time and the nature of menstruation. Things are going to be very rough in the end of the series for Maude. It’s okay. She’s kind of a legend.

Cain closes the series with a fascinating fusion of fantasy, horror, science-fiction, and coming-of-age teen drama. It’s actually kind of a brilliant fusion, considering how little space it takes up on the page. With everything colliding together the way it does in genre and tone, one might expect things to feel a little lopsided or cluttered in page and panel. Things glide gracefully in narration and supporting graphics from one thing to the next. Cain’s departure from traditional comic storytelling conventions May have been A bit more of an experiment in her Mockingbird series for Marvel or the original  Man-Eaters series. By the end of the second series, she wields it with the deftness of a brush that doubles as some kind of narrative, satirical surgical scalpel.

Mitternique makes the drama and danger of a group of large frogs same every bit as terrifying as it probably should. And she’s doing this without losing track of the inherent comedy of it. That fusion between comedy and horror it’s very difficult for anyone to capture, whether it’s on the comics page or in motion pictures or a video. Mitternque Nails-it brilliantly while also delivering to the page of the drama of a supremely confident female protagonist who is nevertheless handed a challenge that genuinely challenges her. They are subtle characterization there that is a great deal of fun. Niemczyk’s graphics are as witty and informative as ever, allowing for a multi-tiered approach to storytelling that fuses complex information with traditional comic book storytelling.

Once again, it seems as though a Chelsea cane and series has come to an end all to abruptly. And yet, it’s a very satisfying ending. Maude Is a truly fascinating character who we should find a welcome home on the page if ever cane Cain has the opportunity To allow us to hang out with her again…

Grade: A