By Anna Bailey — The color of red elicits the strongest reaction on the human spectrum, in both directions. The color can mean courage, sacrifice, love, danger, anger, war. In Chinese culture, it represents luck and happiness; in The Great Gatsby, it represents violence and cruelty. 

In Little Monsters #1 (due out March 9) by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, red is simply blood. And the moon. And the kids. And recognition. 

Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Descender) teams up once again with regular collaborator Dustin Nguyen (Descender, Batman: Li’l Gotham) to bring us one of my most anticipated books this year. Little Monsters is if Lord of the Flies happened during 28 Days Later.

A group of children, who happen to be vampires, are the last remaining people on Earth — where they’re living is desolate, decaying, and boring. They’ve been playing (because that’s what children do) in this city, alone, for at least the last century. Waiting for someone to come. 

Someone does come, but is it who they were waiting for? 

The most exciting thing about this book other than Lemire and Nguyen creating together again is that Lemire has said it’s not intentionally a horror book, but rather “[...] a character study of what it would mean to be truly young forever.” 

A lot of Lemire’s books center around what it truly means to be alive. We see it in Sweet Tooth, Black Hammer, Frogcatchers, and Royal City. But now with Little Monsters, we get to see what it truly means to be a kid. 

The children in Little Monsters — Yui, Ronnie, Raymond, Lucas, Vickie, Bats, Billy and Romi — were kids once, but does eternal youth guarantee the cheerfulness and wonder of a child? I guess only time will tell. 

And while we’re waiting, I’ll be seeing red until issue #2 drops. 

Overall: Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen team up again with Little Monsters #1 to create one of the most anticipated books of the year. Everything about this debut has me seeing red. 10/10

REVIEW: Little Monsters #1

Little Monsters #1
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
They are the last children on Earth…who also happen to be vampires. For longer than they can remember, these child vampires have lived a life of eternal wonder amongst the ruins of humanity. But shocking events fracture the group and set them on a path of discovery that will shatter their innocence forever.
Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 9, 2022
Buy It Here: Little Monsters #1

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Anna Bailey is an email marketer that exclusively watches horror films. You can follow her on Twitter at @annuh_bailey to see all her favorites.