Advance Review: Don’t Look For A Satisfying Ending In `Where Monsters Lie’ #4
by Tom Smithyman
If they are good for anything, the creative team behind Where Monsters Lie certainly knows how to grab readers’ attention. Especially guys. Unfortunately, the best part of the book is the first few pages. 
The final issue in this limited series starts off with a Saw-inspired conundrum. A man is given a choice: either lose his dominant hand or have his penis chopped off. Can’t make up your mind? Then you’ll drown. How Jigsaw didn’t come up with this one is a mystery. The visuals alone are enough to make any man put down the book and switch on a rom-com.
Impossible situations like that are one of the many reasons not to visit the quaint village of Wilmhurst – a community where deranged killers in the vein of Jason Vorhees, Leatherface and Michael Myers hang out in between their killing sprees.
Yet Connor Hayes, whose family was killed years ago by such a monster, has crashed the party with an army of (mostly dead) cops. Hayes is seeking revenge for his personal tragedy while trying to bring an end to Wilmhurst.
There is plenty of action in writer Kyle Starks’ story. But most of the killing and gore is resolved by the middle of this final chapter. It leaves an extended denouement which is so intent on setting up the next series that it doesn’t given resolution to this one. It’s a shame Starks chose to rob readers of the chance to learn what happens. And it’s likely to leave a bad enough taste in the audience’s mouth that they will ignore the sequel, if one materializes.
Beyond a dick guillotine, artist Piotr Kowalski illustrates plenty of gore – from a baddie literally chainsawed in half to another being burnt alive with a flamethrower. Vladimir Popov’s colors help to bring things to life…well, to death, really.
There are a couple of issues, though, that demonstrate either the team’s lack of experience or problems with communication. During that infamous opening scene, the monster threatens to sever the victim’s dominant right hand. But it’s his left hand that is being threatened in Kowalski’s drawing. Also, the victim can’t see the labels on the switches, meaning it was no choice at all, just luck.
This series, and even this issue, started with a cool premise, but failed to stick the landing in any satisfying way. Where will the surviving monsters end up? Who cares?
Where Monsters Lie #4 will be available for purchase tomorrow.
Overview
This one doesn’t come close to sticking the landing. Instead of giving a real resolution to the story, the creative team spends nearly half the book setting up a would-be sequel. There won’t be many readers who are willing to indulge them a second time.
