Anghus Houvouras reviews Alien Toilet Monsters #1…
Comic books remain my favorite creative medium for a number of reasons. Mostly because it’s the most likely place to find unconventional stories. The kind of multi-layered narratives where anything can happen, with the only limit being the imagination of the creators.
Alien Toilet Monsters is a comic that makes the most of the medium telling a mind-bending, unconventional story that navigates between multiple worlds and stories creating an intriguing first issue that leaves you extremely interested in discovering more about this universe… I mean universes.
Worlds like Multi-241, a hellish Earth-like landscape populated by strange creatures. The world is being viewed like a nature documentary being watched in a restaurant with an interesting cast of characters. Frankie is dealing with the loss of Angel years ago, something made surreal by the visit of an alternate version of Angel from another universe. Things go from surreal to potentially catastrophic when an alternate version of Frankie arrives threatening a dimensional rift. It turns out travelling between worlds is policed by the I.M.P.D. who promptly arrive to just as things go sideways.
There’s also a healthy level of meta going on in Alien Toilet Monsters with a subplot involving writer Carol Zara as an actress named Carol Zara who has drawn the ire of another diner patron enraged over her casting in a movie based on some crazy mascots for an intergalactic soda conglomerate.
Describing the plot of Alien Toilet Monsters is like trying to describe an episode of Rick & Morty to someone unfamiliar with the franchise. There are so many things happening in both the foreground and background. It’s a comic that begs to be re-read and ponder just what the connections might eventually be. Eric Barnett’s layouts and art are inspired. The color palette is loud and vibrant. This is a broad, grand, strange world that is given the proper visual panache.
ATM is a nice blend of gonzo science-fiction and straight-up mental maneuvering between characters and stories. Even the comics’ name and cover feels coy & clever as readers are denied the very toilet monsters that the series is named after. Based on the cover art you’d think you were delving into some schlocky 80’s horror movie like Critters. Inside you are treated to something far more complex and a world I’m very interested in exploring further.
Rating: 8/10
Anghus Houvouras
