Zenescope - NPOmnibusted #11: The Monster Hunter's Survival Guide

Article by Sean Wilkinson,
a.k.a. The Omnibuster

The Monster Hunter's Survival Guide was a unique review in the Grimm Fairy Tales Retrospective, as it is thus far the only...comic book?...series?...that I've given my opinion on without a full, in-depth read. Mostly because it was too tedious and painful for my obsessive-compulsive, "grammar Nazi," critical eyes. I'm not even sure if it and it's Case Files spin-off are a real part of the GFT continuity.

You might be asking, "how can you judge its quality and canonicity if you haven't read it all?" And I might answer: I read enough. If you think you can stomach the typo-laden word salad that is The Monster Hunter's Survival Guide, then please do so. But also, remember to like, comment, subscribe, and follow me on Tumblr, Reddit, and Facebook, and read my review below. You'll see that I'm right. It's so bad that I ran out of things to say about how bad it is, and I transitioned into a New Piece Offerings rant halfway through. Let's get this over with.

The Monster Hunter’s Survival Guide

This is probably the worst thing Zenescope put out in its early days. Back when I was first writing the Grimm Fairy Tales Retrospective, the reason I even thought to include this was based on its sharing similar logo design with a then-recent miniseries called Escape From Monster Island, which isn’t explicitly stated as being part of the Grimm Fairy Tales canon, but given the turn the series and its spin-offs took around the time GFT #100 was published, it could theoretically take place in the same universe. But what I expected to find in Survival Guide and what it actually was (along with the unthinkably increased number of production errors from issue to trade—the trade paperback is supposed to be a repaired, touched-up collection of a miniseries or part of a larger ongoing series that addresses things like spelling and punctuation errors and name inconsistencies, which are actually made worse in this version) came as a major letdown. The Monster Hunter’s Survival Guide nearly takes the comic out of comic book, the graphic out of graphic novel, and leaves us with a colorless, plot-less abundance of reading to do, much of which I already knew from watching fifteen seasons of Supernatural, regarding everything from zombies, ghosts, and demons to dinosaurs and extinct species of giant sharks. The few illustrations provided are well-drawn and fit in with the spirit and feeling of what the Survival Guide is supposed to be. But, so. Much. Reading! I enjoy reading, and I know that I harp more than I should on the modern generation’s aversion to long-form literature and print media—and reading in general, but that particular gripe of mine covers only forms of media that are meant to be read. For example, I criticize the public choice to gravitate toward tweets, memes, and emojis rather than books, newspapers, and (for my own sake, if not for the sake of the medium at large) blogs. Tweets are short-form meaninglessness, and emojis and memes are just ways we trick ourselves into believing that pictures and words are the same thing. Books, newspapers, and blogs are meaningful, long-form, written media that are mostly comprised of words, and should be read and understood, straightforwardly, as such. Conversely to the interchangeable “pictures are words” nature of social media communications, and to the “written media are mostly comprised of words” premise, comic books have always been, for the most part, a visual medium with accompanying written dialogue. So, to expect someone to purchase a comic book and do this much reading within its pages, much less to call The Monster Hunter’s Survival Guide a comic book in the first place, is an affront to comic books and their readers alike.

Next week, we’ll get back to Grimm Fairy Tales with a Retrospective look at yet another long-delayed sequel that'll make you get off your tuffet.

Remember to like, comment, subscribe, and follow me on Tumblr, Reddit, and Facebook for the latest news and updates on my content, and check out this Dad Joke:

Why are Curds inconvenient?

Because they get in the whey!

I'm sorry,

You're welcome, and

NPOmnibuster,

NPOut.