We all love a good catchy title, and they don’t get more attention-grabbing than Alien Toilet Monsters. Sure, a standout, snappy title is one thing, but more important is whether such a bold and brave book has the content to back it up. From the duo of Eric Barnett and Carol Zara, this is most definitely one of the most unique titles you’ll ever come across, so let’s see if it’s actually any good or not.
Being that this is the very first issue – the wonderfully titled Breaking the Seal – of Alien Toilet Monsters, what we have is a lot of introductory work which lays the foundations for what is around the corner. Most notably, the titular beasties themselves are absent here. That’s not to say that Alien Toilet Monsters #1 still doesn’t have its charms, though.
Opening up with a nice, peaceful desert landscape, things soon take a turn for the weird when the casual image of a female desert fox eating a scorpion is flipped on its head. For you see, this isn’t just your regular Earth; no, this is one of the many corners of the multiverse which ties Alien Toilet Monsters together. Instead, here on Multi-241, we have animals that are capable of altering their genetic structure simply by eating whatever is in front of them. Hence, this cute, gracious desert fox is turned in to some sort of twisted fox/scorpion hybrid. And just like that, Alien Toilet Monsters instantly sets its stall out as being not just your regular run-of-the-mill read.
In this opening issue, we get introduced to a more peaceful part of the multiverse and the characters who will seemingly be the main players – including writer Zara herself – in our continuing journey to fight the good fight against the ominous threat that is soon to be looming ominously over the main narrative of the book.
With art as equally exquisite as it is explosive, Alien Toilet Monsters grabs you by the seat of your pants from the get-go, and the smooth, natural-feeling, humorous dialogue of this introductory issue makes you feel at ease while also immediately engaging you in this whole bonkers world (or should that be worlds?). So much of the tale feels as grounded as can be, yet there’s clearly a whole otherworldly feel to this first issue that will have you eager for more. Overflowing with classic sci-fi tropes and having made so many of its soon-to-be key players likeable in a remarkably short space of time, Alien Toilet Monsters #1 is truly one of the most unique reading experiences you’ll ever encounter.
To hear that this independently-published book is outselling some of the big hitters – All-Star Batman, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, New Superman, Gwenpool, Squirrel Girl and X-Men Blue, just to name a few – at North American comic book outlets is no real surprise, and this is a book that is most definitely not one to miss out on. Currently one of the industries dirty little secrets, Alien Toilet Monsters is off to a riotous start that has us chomping at the bit to see what happens next.
ALIEN TOILET MONSTERS #1 / WRITER: ERIC BARNETT, CAROL ZARA / ARTIST: ERIC BARNETT / PUBLISHER: OMNIMORPHIC PRODUCTIONS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW