Calamity Kate #4: The Monsters Inside

This is honestly a hard review for me to write, mostly because if I’m being honest I hated this issue when I first read it. I originally saw this issue as Kate fighting so hard for what she wanted only to give up and abandon her dreams because things got hard… but after how much I enjoyed the first three issues, I knew that couldn’t be the case.

So, I did some research. I looked up some information about Visaggio online, I reread the entire series, and I talked to my editor and fellow reviewer Cody White about this issue, the series as a whole, and about Vissagio as a person. What I realized was that on my first read, I had missed a large part of the point of this book. Does Kate give up in this final issue? Yes… but while that was a major plot point of the series, it was only a portion of the story being told.

This is an amazing book about dealing with inner demons and about realizing your own issues and facing them head-on as opposed to running away. So, Kate did give up but a big part of what she gave up on was her desire to run from her issues and to be honest, on my second reading, this final issue brought a tear to my eye. Not just from sadness over Kate’s story but from realization; realization that this was a very personal book for Visaggio and also that some of its themes also rang true in my own life.

This was a tragic and beautifully written book with a glimmering light at the end of the tunnel. A tale of how it’s sometimes it can be best to give up on goals set for the wrong reasons in order to work on the issues that made these goals seem worthwhile. It did a great job in showing that decisions often have lasting effects and that someone’s failure can also be a catalyst to allow someone else to rise to greatness.

I would like to take time to note that the art was great as always. Both Howell’s illustrations and Pinto’s colors worked well in bringing this emotional story to life.

This may not be a story for everyone and I can personally attest that it’s a story where some of the nuances can easily be missed on the first read thru but I do feel it is a brilliantly written story with a powerful message.