Matt Wagner Cover B Variant
M1: Monster Racing League #3
Writers: Lily Windom, Robert Windom
Artist: Jae Lee
Cover Artists: Jae Lee, Matt Wagner
Colorist: June Chung
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Publisher: Image Comics
M1: Monster Racing League continues to find itself in an unusual position for me. There are things I enjoy about this series, particularly the consistently gorgeous artwork, but the central premise still isn't clicking in the way I expected it to. Issue #3 continues to develop the characters and the mystery surrounding W-yld, but the actual racing remains the weakest part of the book.
The W-yld Card
After taking the mysterious drug known as W-yld, which temporarily transforms humans into monsters with enhanced racing abilities, Ryuuki has gone on a winning streak, leaving Dev and Kaito in his dust. Marise insists that she witnessed his transformation in real time. Dev believes her, but Kaito remains skeptical. As Ryuuki continues his dominance over the Tokyo racing circuit, Dev finds herself down in the dumps and begins questioning her own abilities behind the wheel.
When Dev meets up with Marise and Kaito at their house, the three begin asking themselves the obvious questions: How can they stop Ryuuki? Is there anything they can do? And, most importantly, where did he get his hands on this new W-yld drug?
The Kids Are Alright... Probably
We come to find out that Kaito and Marise live in a mansion. We don't meet their parents because, according to Marise, they sleep like vampires, but at least we now know where all that money comes from: they run a successful chain of pet cafés. This might seem like a weird nitpick, but I'm perpetually confused by how adults are treated in this universe. They're completely useless and serve no purpose outside of a passing reference or punchline.
Even Dev's relationship with her father feels strangely hostile. He's done nothing to warrant the attitude Dev has been giving him for three issues now. Yeah, I understand, teenage angst, blah blah blah, but something about it still doesn't feel earned. In the limited time we spend with him, Dev's dad comes across as a very supportive, caring father, which only makes her hostility toward him feel more difficult to understand. Again, I can't make much sense of it personally.
I enjoy bits and pieces of this scene, though. You get moments like Dev pulling the sword out of a 1,000-year-old samurai statue, only for the entire thing to crumble into pieces. Kaito eagerly explains that his pet fish is named Cha Hae-In, only for Marise to expose him for naming it after a character from Solo Leveling.
The constant barrage of Korean pop-culture references can feel a little too on the nose at times, and it sometimes makes me wonder why the book is set in Japan at all if these are the kinds of references the writers want to make throughout the story. I'm not saying you CAN'T have the setting be Japan, but judging by the writers' apparent interests, I can't help but wonder if the series would feel more natural in South Korea.
Monsterpiece
I'm very happy to say that issue #3 brings back a lot of the visual strengths that gave me such high hopes for M1: Monster Racing League when I reviewed the first issue. There are fewer flat, blank backgrounds this time around, replaced by outdoor scenery filled with its usual pink leaves motif. It's so gorgeous that I really can't praise Jae Lee enough when he's given the chance to do some actual scenery work.
His character designs have been great throughout the series as well, and Ryuuki's monster form looks particularly awesome. His face looks like a combination of rotting flesh and hamburger meat. I don't think that was Jae's intention, but nonetheless, that's how I interpret it.
June Chung's coloring deserves plenty of praise, too. It's one thing to have this amazing imagery, with pink leaves following the characters everywhere they go, but it wouldn't have nearly the same impact without the right colors. Thankfully, Chung delivers, and they pop in damn near every panel.
Finding the Right Formula
At this point, I can't help but wonder how much M1: Monster Racing League would benefit from leaning more heavily into its slice-of-life elements rather than trying to balance so many different sub-genres, with racing obviously being the most prominent. The actual racing still feels strangely static and lacks the excitement you'd expect from a series built around it. Ironically, I find myself enjoying the quieter interactions between Dev, Marise, and Kaito much more.
That's not to say those character moments are perfect. The never-ending stream of K-pop references can still be a little much, and Dev still has plenty of character development ahead of her before I would consider her particularly likable. To her credit, though, nothing she does in this issue sets off any alarms for me, which is certainly an improvement.
I can't say that I dislike this book. In fact, there's elements here that I enjoy. I just can't shake the feeling that it's stuck in the wrong genre. With Jae Lee's stellar artwork and June Chung's excellent coloring, it's easy to imagine what this series could accomplish if it leaned more toward a traditional high-school drama instead of trying to combine so many different ideas without giving any of them a clear sense of focus.
For now, M1: Monster Racing League #3 remains a decent read with some genuinely impressive artwork, even if I'm still waiting for the series to figure out what it wants to be.