Monday Monday A Rivers of London Story #2

Monday Monday, A Rivers of London Story #2

Titan Comics 2021

Written by Ben Aaronovitch & Andrew Cartmel

Illustrated by José María Beroy

Coloured by Jordi Escuin Ilorach

Lettered by Rob Steen

A werewolf is on the loose and will stop at nothing to avoid capture! An unmissable brand-new era in the life of full-time cop and part-time wizard, Peter Grant.

For a delightful change of pace we seem to be getting a great look at Nightingale and his life and backstory. That we see him with his former headmaster who is just as hard on him if not harder than he is on Peter now. I really like the way that this is being told as well. Nightingale has had some ideas of independence in his youth and I do believe his current position is something that asserts his own will while still acquiescing to the demands of his former headmaster. This is insanely relatable to, because whether you are or have been a teenager and wanted to do what you were passionate about outside of what’s expected of you well yeah we’ve all been there. Magic aside this really has everything about it that any and all readers’ can relate to and feel empathy with or for and that’s the key to recognising a sensationally written story.

I am such a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. What this does is make these characters feel more like people, people we know, we relate to and that’s huge for me. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we’re pulled deeper and deeper into the parallels of Nightingale's life.

I appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. What we see within these layers, which contain the characterisation and plot twists, adds so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are bloody gorgeous! The linework is phenomenal and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see throughout the book is extraordinarily good. The way we see backgrounds utilised throughout to expand and enhance the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work we see is equally as brilliant to see. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a sensational eye for how colour works.

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The creativity and imagination that we see throughout the book in both the words and visuals is utterly magnificent. Can I just say that the wallpaper is something I am now obsessed with. This remains one of the more interesting and intriguing franchises in comics right now and while I have yet to read any of the novels, I’d love to if anyone wants to send them to me, but I do know if Ben’s writing them I’m in. With some intelligent writing and sharp characterisation that’s wrapped up in these supremely solid interiors really bring the intrigue factors to new heights.