Beast of Boriken #3
Writer: Julio Anta
Art: Daniel Irizarri
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (Aphorism 147)
As Loli comes face-to-face with the titular beast, it becomes clear just who the monster really is...
Pain of Loss
Deep within El Chupacabra's caves, Loli finds herself face-to-face with the beast itself. Their eyes meet, and something passes between them...
In 1493, there were two Xupis, as they were called then. They lived in peace with the indigenous people, and life was good. Then the colonists came, killing one and wounding the other. The colonists then enslaved the natives, and the wounded beast was forced to just look on...
Alma soldiers find and capture the beast, while Loli barely manages to escape. Returning home, she finally learns the truth of her mother's condition...
Escalation
One of the things I like about this series is how deliberate the pacing is. We're not jumping right to El Chupacabra slaughtering everyone who threatens itself and the island—instead, we're building the threat, learning about the culture and its history, and developing characters. With a few splashes of bloodshed, of course.
The "history lesson" that Loli experiences when she locks eyes with the beast brings home the central message of this series: we—man—are the real monsters. Even though El Chupacabra is a monstrous figure that leaves a trail of bodies in its wake, it's not the wronged party here. Time and again, it is man who came to the island from outside and tried to bend it to their will. The beast is just protecting its home.
Now that Loli understands just how far back this cycle of violence goes, she understands that she needs to change her own approach. To this end, once Bianca tells her just how bad her mother's health is, Loli finally goes to see her mom. This is where it all comes to a head, and everything pours out of her. It all started with the storm all those years ago (in issue #1). Losing her father, having to rebuild... it was hard for them. Then Loli discovered her activism, and over time something changed, and she became almost as violent as those she was fighting against. The escalation was so gradual, she didn't even realize it until it was almost too late.
Violence begets violence. To face a monster, you must take care to not become one yourself. These are lessons that Loli has forgotten. Honestly, they're lessons that we've forgotten in our world, too. Humanity is trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of violence and death, and we don't have a beast of our own to give us a wake-up call. We have to figure it out on our own.
Pretty deep stuff for a "monster movie" comic, eh?
I'm sure that by the time we get to the finale of this series, blood will flow like a river as Loli, El Chupacabra, and the forces of Alma all collide. And I'm excited to see it. But all of the strong character work, authentic history and culture, and social commentary that we're getting along the way is damn impressive. I went into this series without any expectations, and each new issue just blows me out of the water.
Vicious Cycle
Julio Anta is telling an incredibly topical and powerful story here using the familiar trappings of a monster movie. As our very own Don, George Serrano, said in his review of No Gods, No Masters #1, "Julio Anta does not tell stories simply to fill page counts." No, he wants to make us learn, make us think, make us feel. And he's very good at it. Based on this series alone, he has gone from a name I wasn't familiar with to one whose work I will pick up sight unseen. His pacing is slow and deliberate, but never boring—plenty happens in this issue, even though it's not full of in-your-face action and gore. Loli is a strong and relatable lead, even though I'm a privileged white boy who hasn't known even a fraction of her struggle.
Daniel Irizarri has a very distinctive art style that allows for a wide range of emotion from mere expressions. Some of his faces in particular look a bit odd, with everyone having heavy cheeks in particular, but he gets so much emotion onto those faces that I can overlook the quirks. His design for El Chupacabra is striking, as it both looks like a beast to be feared and also a creature that you could believe wanted to live in peace. That's a tough needle to thread.
Patricio Delpeche's colors add an extra touch of character to these pages. The island is rendered in warm and lush shades of green and blue, but everything has a shadow cast over it that represents the dark tone of the story. A large chunk of this issue takes place in a cave, at night, while it's raining, which is the kind of thing that has ruined many a movie's climactic scene. Here, the colors make sure that everything is still easy to follow, even as the dark and shadows threaten to overwhelm everything.
The Real Monster
Beast of Boriken #3 is another strong issue in this miniseries that takes a step back in time and gives us the story of the titular beast. Loli is a compelling lead whose struggles are believable and relatable, and the story doesn't hide the fact that the real monster here isn't the creature. If you want a smart, well-paced story that will make you think and feel in equal measure, this is a book that you should be reading.