MONSTRESS, written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda, is an all new series from IMAGE comics. At the center of the story is Maika Halfwolf, a young arcanic (i.e. non-human) girl with a mysterious past and an even more mysterious power she can’t control. Tortured by the murder of her mother, Maika searches for both answers and revenge to her mother’s death with a single minded focus. In this podcast, ComicsVerse examines how Liu and Takeda use fantasy as a means to explore oppression, subjugation, race and gender relations, and the idea of otherness in the war-ravaged world of MONSTRESS. We also consider how MONSTRESS addresses race, power negotiations, slavery, inequality, what it means to be human, the power of memory to shape both identity and the role the dead play in transforming ongoing life. This podcast delves into the power storytelling has to reveal uncomfortable truths about the monster in all of us.