Little Monsters #6
The kids’ schism reaches the next level in Little Monsters #6, by writer Jeff Lemire, artist Dustin Nguyen, and letterer Steve Wands. This issue feels like a major turning point, as everything comes apart.
The easiest way to summarize this issue is that everything falls apart. It starts at the end, as the little girl is chased down by Vickie and then flashes back. While the human archer questions the surviving twin, the two vampire factions deal with their differences. Romie and the girl see Bats, Billy, and Vickie return and talk about going after humans. They run to Yui and Lucas to tell them the truth. Romie hides with the human girl in the library as Yui and Lucas confront Bats, Billy, and Vickie. Billy smells the little girl, and the two groups clash.
So far, Little Monsters has depended on visual storytelling a lot. This issue does as well, but it builds up to the final confrontation expertly. This chapter drops a lot of hooks for readers, like Ronnie’s captivity and what it means for the future only beginning. That’s a short sequence, but it’s also an interesting one. It’s a bait and switch; instead of wanting to go after the vampires, he had other plans. It’s an expert way of building interest, as is the way the issue begins, with Vickie chasing the human girl.
The biggest is the blow-up between the groups of vampires. Lemire has been building the plot of the Old Ones leaving the young vampires on their own, and this chapter reveals their one commandment - never drink human blood. Bats, Billy, and Vickie have changed since drinking human blood. They’re almost like addicts, planning on ways to keep moving to get more human blood. This book took a little while to get to this point, but it was all worth it. On top of that, the human archer also reveals that someone told his group to never go into the city, just like the Old Ones told the kids to stay in the city. There’s a lot of lore to unpack in this comic, but it’s done in such a way that readers really have to pay attention.
Nguyen’s art is beautiful. The only color in the issue is the little girl looking around the city and finding all of Romie’s art. It’s such a beautiful, childlike scene, and it gets a wonderful double-page spread. It serves as a contrast to the rather heavy events of the issue. Elsewhere, Nguyen’s character acting truly carries the argument later in the book. He captures the anger, the hunger, and the heartbreak of this little found family of children imploding.
Little Monsters #6 is the turning point of this book. Lemire and Nguyen work together brilliantly in this issue. Whatever comes next is going to be great.
