Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #7

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Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #7
By Hervé St-Louis
October 8, 2021 - 20:31

Oni Press
Writer(s): Chris Samnee, Laura Samnee
Artist(s): Chris Samnee
Inker(s): Crank!
Colourist(s): Matthew Wilson
Cover Artist(s): Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson

Jonna is hidden in a gigantic structure leaving her sister rainbow to look for her. But they meet a giant snake-like creature that attacks them instead.

I had never heard of this series before and although I picked it up at issue 7, it was quite enjoyable and easy to follow what was happening. The story rests more on its visual storytelling, more than most comics written today. We learn a bit more about what brought the girls here, but from the perspective of Rainbow. There is a lot of mystery in this comic, and that’s just fine.

If you have it, flaunt it. Well, Samnee favours showing versus telling and that makes for a rare visual story that while it appears similar to many other adventure series, is unique in its own. However, the visual storytelling is used to portray a decompressed narrative. While it asks the reader to pay more attention to details and even to pause as they paced through the issue, it does not give much of a satisfactory story. The amount of story here is very limited. I am unsure if the monthly format is the right one for this series. There are economic reasons why it is a monthly comic instead of a single graphic novel, but I believe that the targeted audience is familiar enough and patient enough to wait for a complete story.

Marvelling at the great artwork is good, but not enough to make this series memorable. Visual stories do not have to be decompressed ones. So, while I commend the artwork and the colouring, this adventure book for younger readers will not satisfy most of them if it is produced in such short instalments with so little advancement.

Rating: 7.5/10