Graphic Novel Review: UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON LIVES!

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON LIVES! #1 by Dan Watters and Ram V with art by Matthew Roberts (Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment, April - July 2024) 

     If you’re expecting the opening visceral gut-punch of the previous Universal Monsters mini-series DRACULA you might be a bit disappointed by this new entry. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON takes a more cerebral approach, creating mystery and suspense while it drops clues to the underlying premise. I like them both, and for different reasons. 

      The mystery and suspense continue throughout the four issues, with each installment revealing new details.

ISSUE #1

     Main character Kate is an investigative journalist troubled by memories and dreams of almost drowning to death. The dreams indicate a troubling incident from her recent past, although not specified. She ingests amphetamines in an effort to stay awake and reduce her sleep time because of this. Despite that, she’s on assignment again in Peru apparently trying to track down a former marine suspected of serial murders involving . . . drowning. 

      The trail takes her to a city where mini-statues of a mythological creature are sold in vendor street stalls and citizens speak in reverence of a “creature”. A new drowning has everyone’s attention (including theories about the creature’s involvement) and Kate spies on the transport of the body from the morgue to a remote swamp area. 

      The creature is only glimpsed in shadows until the final pages. I’m enjoying the slow build-up here, want to know more about Maria’s connection to all of this, and trust both Watters and Ram V to tell a good story. The art and coloring really enhance the story-telling.  

ISSUE #2

Kate is rescued by Doctor Edwin Thompson who reforms an autopsy on the last drowning victim in his lab. Kate is convinced that the serial killer she has tracked here, Darwin Collier, is the culprit and using the mythical creature as cover for his acts. Dr. Thompson has his own reasons for hunting down the creature and they join forces. 

   Events this issue make it clear that there is indeed a creature lurking around and killing. There’s also the killer Collier in the jungle, training drug dealers to defend themselves in between his kills/drownings.

 

ISSUE #3

The trails lead to a cave within the lagoon, either the hideout of Collier or the Creature - or both. Collier has a secret to reveal, and it’s shocking.

ISSUE #4

Things come to a head in the final issue as Creature meets Collier. Many will die before the issue ends, although Kate, who seems to have a connection to the Creature, is spared.

Things happen very fast in this series once you get past the initial set-up issue. It was all over before I was prepared for it to be over. I’d welcome a return to more stories of the Creature with the same creative team. Well done.  THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS OVERALL.