Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives! #4: We Are All Monsters

Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives! #4 concludes the second miniseries in this new Universal Monsters line of books that see a seemingly non-connected group of stories that reimagine some of the most classic horror characters. Picking up with the shocking conclusion of the last issue with Collier having revealed his true intentions of turning himself and his followers into the creature that lives in The Black Lagoon. This series is a very poignant discussion about fear, obsession, and the monsters of the world, with this final issue pitting Kate against her worst fears, serving as the ultimate test of her wits and sanity. All the while, the creature itself continues to be a stalking presence in the back that seems to strike when people expect it the least.

Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives is actually a lot more similar to the previous series, Universal Monsters: Dracula, than many would assume at first glance. Both of these series use the traditional stories and actions as sort of a backdrop for the settings and worlds that these series’ live in, with the titular characters acting in much more of a thematic presence than anything else. Both Dracula and the creature are present throughout all of their individual series; however, the story is really about the other characters and the world around them. This is an excellent take on these worlds and one that will hopefully be reciprocated in the future Universal Monster series that are bound to come off the heels of this.

For the most part, this conclusion serves as a satisfying ending to the miniseries, although, in traditional horror movie fashion, it leaves a lot open-ended for the audience (in this case the readers) to mull over after turning the final page. Kate is finally face-to-face with the man who tried to murder her, and he has now literally become a monster. Thematically, this ties into the idea that anyone can become a monster, regardless of how they look or who they are, giving a lot of credence to the famous Alan Moore Batman story, The Killing Joke, where The Joker hypothesized that anyone is only one bad day away from snapping and turning into himself. With the open endedness of the book, it is wonderful to see that Ram V and Dan Watters trust the readers enough to let them interpret the conclusion in any way they see fit, allowing this theory to continue to be as thought provoking as it was from the start.

As the art goes, Matthew Roberts does a great job showing how much Collier has turned into this monster, with the image of his body intermixed with scales and other facets creating a sense of body horror that really feels reciprocated by Kate as she also witnesses this. Roberts does a great job with all of the character work here, showing the horror and humility on a lot of these characters’ faces as they navigate through this final confrontation. Roberts also does a fantastic job drawing the creature itself, with the creature appearing sparingly enough for the juxtaposition between the horror in the real and science fiction world feeling earned.