There’s no doubt that M1: Monster Racing League #1 is a beautiful book. After all, when Jae Lee is the illustrator of your comic book, you’re bound to get images that are either disturbing, hypnotic, or both. There’s also the comic’s premise, which lends itself well to Lee’s style. M1 focuses on Dev Raines, who’s just moved to Tokyo from California. Dev, being a 17-year-old girl, hates her new home and hates her father for making her move. Yet when she makes a new friend, Marise, Dev finds herself pulled into a world of underground racing…and some of those racers happen to be demons.
The first thing you’ll notice about M1: Monster Racing League #1 is how Lee perfectly captures the unique design of Tokyo. Storefronts and buildings look just like they do in real life. Teenagers are dressed in neatly pressed uniforms at school and flashy clothing when they’re out and about. In a truly stunning sequence, a storm of cherry blossom petals begins to float around a shrine, creating an oddly soothing scene. Lee also doesn’t skimp on the racing portion of the book, as each racer has not only a unique vehicle but also a unique helmet and jumpsuit. This allows Lee to sneak in plenty of references to Japanese pop culture, especially with one racer being a dead ringer for Ultraman.
The imagery in M1: Monster Racing League #1 wouldn’t be nearly as alluring as it is without June Chung’s colors or Joe Sabino’s letters. Chung separates the racing scenes from the rest of the scenery by drenching Tokyo in natural light, while the races take place underground, surrounded by a cold blue background. The standout of the issue is Dev herself, thanks to her golden blonde hair and blue eyes — not to mention the bumblebee tattoo on her wrist. Chung’s work goes hand in hand with Sabino’s, especially in the races; when a car crashes, the word “Wipeout” literally leaps off the page, thanks to a unique design and bright yellow color.
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While M1: Monster Racing League #1 is a visual delight, I found the story lacking. There’s an entire page where Dev starts talking to herself about why she moved to Tokyo, but it comes off less as her griping about her situation and more her outright telling the viewer how she got to this point. Likewise, Dev only has one mood: sulky. She sulks in school. She sulks at home. She sulks through the streets. Sulk, sulk, sulk. I know teenagers tend to sulk, because I used to be one and was fairly insufferable. But when 50% of the book is a teenager moping about their life, it tends to veer into the melodramatic. Only Dev’s interactions with Marise, who is extremely bubbly and talkative, provide a brief respite from this teenage wasteland.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that writers Lily and Robert Windom wait until the last few pages to finally delve into both the racing and the demon aspects of this book, which is baffling. This is a comic that was sold as KPop Demon Hunters meets Fast & Furious, so you’d think the Windoms would want to get to that aspect as soon as possible. It also pales in comparison to other Image launches: books like Radiant Black, Fireborn, and D’Orc laid out their premises in their opening issues.
M1: Monster Racing League #1 leans mostly on its unique visuals and vibrant colors, neglecting its killer hook in the process. Here’s hoping the second issue can get things in gear, as this is a book with plenty of promise.
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