LITTLE MONSTERS #7: How It Was, How It Is, How It Had to Be…

We rejoin the series as we left it. The children are firmly divided between Romie and their companions who seek to protect the young human and Billy’s group who have tasted human blood and want more. The parts of this set in the here and now are tense as aggressions rise between the two groups leading to Romie displaying just how strong they are. In between this Lemire threads in flashbacks that continue to flesh out the history and abilities of the children vampires. There’s still a deep mystery beyond the conflict and the blood lust of the now as Lemire weaves in hints of a bigger picture and at the center of that picture is Romie. Why can Billy fix electronics but not remember who taught him? There’s an urgency to the present as the protective group seeks to hide from Billy’s group and several revelations about the Elders that made these forever children come to the fore when Romie, whose full name is revealed as Romika, takes her companions into her sleeping place which leads to a revelation that will rock the core of what the children have all been lead to believe.

Lemire takes the time to examine how perceptive the children are in an exchange between Romika and one of the other children who sense the secrets Romika is keeping. The issue stays completely focused on the children and Lemire does not pick up the thread of the remaining twin who was stuck with a human in the last issue of the previous arc. It’s a strong opener to the second arc that smartly picks up the thread of before, spicing it up with several more questions that its revelations reveal. Why did the elders do what they did? What else does Romika know that they have not revealed to the other children and how will the protective group deal with Billy’s murderous intent?

The schism between the group is the central theme here and artist Dustin Nguyen emphasizes this from the cover onward with brilliant use of black and white contrast for the silhouettes of Romika and Billy on the cover. Again the strength of Nguyen’s art is the incredible use of contrast to illicit a response in the reader combined with the fact that his character’s facial expressions are always deeply expressive and exceptionally emotive. He captures the children at play, in violent vampiric extremis, and in contemplation flawlessly with brilliant work around the eyes and mouths of these characters. His vampire elder is a suitably crusty ancient-looking creature that reminds one deeply of the classic Nosferatu, a sharp study in contrast to the fresh-faced youth of Romika and her fellow children of the night. There is little to no use of color this time while the issue focuses strongly on interaction in the present and the past between the children and no blood to speak of.