American Monster #1. Thug Life?

American Monster #1 Review

You may have seen this comic outfit around your local shop recently, a publisher going by the name of Aftershock Comics. They seemed to have popped up out of nowhere with pretty impressive creator lineups. Their covers and stories catch your eye on the shelves, but it wasn’t until American Monster when I finally gave Aftershock a chance.

American Monster takes you into a rural Midwest town where you get the feeling corruption and illegal activities happen regularly. Enter stage right, the scarred war veteran you believe to be the books hero, within minutes you soon learn this thought couldn’t be further from the truth.

From the goofy crew at the gas station, the hoodlum juveniles, and the obvious anti-hero (yet to be confirmed), American Monster is helped along with its cast of interesting characters. The interactions between each character is what really sells the book, they’re genuine and genuinely disturbing, like something out of a Kevin Smith movie.

You may recognize the team working on this comic, one Brian Azzarello and Juan Doe. I wasn’t too familiar with Juan Doe who does the cover and interior art of the American Monster, but it fits the feel of the book, which is important. You have to at least know Azzarello from the latest DKIII: The Master Race, and maybe a long running book by the name of 100 Bullets.

If you’ve been curious about Aftershock Comics, American Monster is a prime place to start.