You were probably told as a child to never play with your food. But writer Jordan Alsaqa and artist Vivian Truong are here to tell you it’s OK with their Cooking with Monsters series.
The first Cooking with Monsters book, 2023’s The Beginner’s Guide to Culinary Combat, introduced Hana Ozawa, a student at the Gourmand Academy of Culinary Combat. In addition to learning how to “fight monsters and how to turn them into delicious meals,” Hana dealt with the usual high school fare, like crushing on your rival and keeping up your grades. (Do they have actual homework?) Cooking with Monsters‘ first book was so tasty, in fact, they’re coming out with a second helping.
Cooking with Monsters: Harm-to-Table explores the second year for Hana, Olivia, Bobby, and the others at Gourmand. Not only are they struggling with “new monsters, new techniques, and new recipes,” but the gang is split up just as they contend with the dual threat of local livestock being attacked and a “culinary crime ring” at Gourmand. It’s this second volume that cements Cooking with Monsters as more than just a silly YA manga, but rather a solid book about friendship, growing up, and facing the weirdness of the world. Oh, and the techniques for really solid side dishes.
Book two of Cooking with Monsters is out October 22 via IDW. In the lead up, we reached out to both Alsaqa and Truong to talk about all things Cooking with Monsters. That includes the development between the two books, tackling diversity in a specific way, monsters they’d love to chow down on, their ongoing collaborative process, and even the possibility of a third Cooking with Monsters book.
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: What should people know/be aware of going from book one into book two of Cooking with Monsters?
Jordan Alsaqa: As you’d expect from a sequel, this book is going to take our characters on a bigger adventure into the wider world of Gourmand! In the first book, the action stuck close to school as Hana and her friends worked their way through their first year of school. Now, they’ll be exploring the farther reaches of their country as they go on their first field mission, discovering new monsters and threats. At the same time, we’re still focused in on the character relationships first and foremost as we explore a messy love triangle and a past tragedy that rears its ugly head in the present.
Vivian Truong: Harm-to-Table will feature a new set of punny monsters and a big baddie with muscles for days! We’ll also finally learn about the incident that Olivia discovered from her grandpa at the end of book one and how it affected our beloved senior characters. On top of that, there’ll be even more comedy, action and romantic development for our main trio. You won’t want to miss it!
AIPT: How has your collaborative process developed while working on this story?
JA: Now that we’ve made over 500 pages of art together, I can say that Vivian and I have developed both a shorthand and trust in each other that makes for a phenomenal creative partnership. My scripts can be a lot less formal because I’m writing to her sensibilities, and she in turn knows she has the freedom to really flesh out the world with great background details and jokes. Beyond that, Megan Brown and Jake Williams came on as lead editors for this book and struck a great balance between respecting what we’d already created and pushing us to further develop ideas we’d maybe gotten a bit comfortable with.
Courtesy of IDW.
VT: It’s been an easy process for me. Jordan and I have worked together long enough to trust each other’s visions and to know we can always discuss new ideas with each other. Our editors Megan and Jake have always allowed us flexibility and ensured we create the best book we can. I have to give a big shout out to my flat artist Damali whom I’ve loved working with. Her flats have made my life so much easier and if I sneak in any character cameos, she always gets the assignment. Finally, IDW has been fantastic with collaborating with talented letterers who match with the artwork seamlessly. Overall, it’s a great joy to work with this team.
AIPT: Similarly, going into this “second year” are there characters or other aspects that stand out as your favorite/things you love to write and draw?
JA: We have a wide cast, and with the focus on our main trio in book one, we didn’t get as much of a chance to delve into the back stories and personalities of the rest of our cast. So, this time out, getting to write stuff like Tom’s homelife, Layla’s issues with the nation Calmus, and the friendly rivalry between Anne and Aldo has been a highlight. Beyond that, writing a full-on villain in this book has been a lot of fun as well.
VT: What I love about sequels is seeing how the characters have progressed and trying to reflect that with art. I typically go down the cartoon route with characters wearing the same outfit so when I can make changes to do with height, or hairstyle, that alone is exciting for me.
AIPT: At least in the first book, I love the way diversity and character design aligned. How do you go about developing robust characters that feel authentic and organic?
VT: Because this is set in a fantasy world, I want to be able to draw upon real cultures the characters are based off of but stylise them in a way that reflects the tone of the book. It helps me a lot to ask questions about the characters: What kind of background do they have? How do they present themselves? Are they sociable or withdrawn?
After that, it helps to put them next to other characters to see how well they match with the lineup and if I can diversify silhouettes even further.
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: This second book promises “new monsters, new techniques, and new recipes.” Anything specific that you can tease (like some tasty appetizer)?
JA: In the first book, a lot of our monsters were drawn from real-world mythology, with stuff like the cockatrice. This time out, we’ve leaned to the other end of the spectrum and fully embraced puns with stuff like the thieving crustaceans called “Snatchin’ Crabs.” It’s allowed us a lot more inventiveness in the sort of monsters we can come up with, right up to the massive threat the teens face at the end of the book.
VT: There are so many new fun monsters I’d love to tease… If I had to pick one, I’ll go with the macaroon raccoons which we’ve named “Racaroons.” They look so cute (and tasty), I just want a bite.
AIPT: This book shares some key threads with the always wonderful Delicious in Dungeon. Do you try to lean into or away from comparisons like that?
JA: Like Vivian, I avoided reading Delicious in Dungeon for a long time to make sure it didn’t influence Cooking, but it’s now very much a favorite! And really, I think we’re fortunate with our release schedule and how Delicious has exploded this past year to be part of a rising tide instead of trying to chase a trend. Clearly, people love the idea of monsters and cooking mixed together, so if we can be the next book people pick up because they’re jonesing for more of that flavor profile, I think that’s only a good thing. And as Vivian noted, we’re different enough that the comparison is more a jumping-off point than an unflattering comparison.
VT: I love Delicious in Dungeon but I purposefully avoided reading it until very recently because I didn’t want to subconsciously be too “inspired” by it. After reading it all the way through now, even though we share a theme of eating monsters, our stories differ enough that Cooking with Monsters really is its own unique tale so I have nothing to worry about. I think fans of Delicious in Dungeon will fall in love with our series too if they love the zaniness and thoughtfulness of the manga.
Courtesy of IDW.
AIPT: The core group (Hana, Olivia, Bobby) will face some challenges this year, including a (brief?) split up. Is it hard to give them roadblocks considering the affections you have?
JA: It can be a bummer to put the characters through tough times, but it’s ultimately a necessary part of storytelling to make sure they develop and evolve. This is a coming-of-age story, so making sure everyone gets the chance to face hardship and find out how they’ll react is hugely important. We still do our best to find plenty of lighter moments to let the characters have some fun and just enjoy being teens!
VT: We want the characters to be as loved by readers as we the creators love them. However, sometimes being put into tough challenges can also mean tough decisions will need to be made, and our characters don’t always make the same ones we would. That’s the hardest part of writing about characters you love. But without those roadblocks, we wouldn’t be able to see how much the characters have grown (or not grown) and so as hard as it can be, it’s worth pushing through it in the end.
AIPT: If you had to eat one of the monsters from either book, which one would it be and why?
JA: I’d have to go with the basilisk ramen Hana makes at the end of book one. As written, it’s meant to be a pretty spectacular dish, and it’d be nice to share in the culinary heritage of our main character in such a direct way.
VT: I already salivated over the Racaroon earlier. I’d also love to try the Narwhaletto from the first book. If you couldn’t tell already, I have a big sweet tooth.
AIPT: Could we eventually see a third book, and what might that entail?
JA: Happy to say book three is coming, and we’re fortunate to be telling an even bigger story that continues the themes and plotlines that readers will be introduced to in book two. It’s the biggest narrative I’ve told as a writer yet, so getting the chance to work on such a big canvas has been a delight.
Courtesy of IDW.
VT: Yes! The third book’s script is already written. We’ll be seeing a progression of the story from the second book and even more dangerous monsters that may draw bigger threats to Gourmand.
AIPT: Is there anything else we should know about Cooking with Monsters, comics and art, food, life, etc.?
JA: If you like food, fighting, teen drama, and over-the-top comedy, then I really hope you’ll give Cooking with Monsters a shot! Two books in, we’ve developed a world both Vivian and I love making and telling stories in, and we hope audiences feel the same. We want to follow the journeys of these characters into wilder, more dangerous places, so both literally and figuratively, we hope they’ll let us cook for as long as possible!
VT: We’ve been working on Cooking with Monsters for several years now and are so lucky to be able to create this trilogy. I can’t believe how much has changed since we both started working on this comic.
We really love the world of Cooking with Monsters and hope that in the future we can explore more on legendary monsters, expand on other character stories, and continue to create fun new dishes for everyone to dream about.
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