Monstress #9

Monstress, Issue #9 keeps rolling along. The art is consistently detailed and fantastic, yet it comes out every month like any normal comic. It opens up when Moriko's sister makes an appearance, along with her mother, who is a wolf Arcanic and the Queen of Wolves.  The two fight over the mask, Maika, and the future; the mother is a member of the Dawn Court.  Then there's a flashback to Maika's childhood, where Moriko is challenging her.  Then back to the ship, which is headed to the Isle of Bones.

This is a difficult comic to enjoy but a rewarding one.  The dialogue is dense, as is the art.  While I usually spend at most 15 minutes reading a comic, this one takes me 30 or 45 minutes, and it's easy to miss plot lines and situations.  There's a nice tribute to the Japanese artist Hosukai on the cover, for instance.  I'm sure I'm missing other homages and situations.  There's a lot to see and read.