Some thoughts about Young Monsters in Love #1

Even monsters deserve some love.

Some of the most bizarre creatures around the world are connected to someone else, someone who could save them from their doomed fate.

A special celebrating the month of love in the strangest way. I have to appreciate DC for daring to avoid the conventional route of focusing on attractive superheroes and instead featuring the least conventional people and their romantic lives and considering the kind of characters they are, you can bet that many of these stories don't exactly have a happy ending.

The issue opens solidly with a story written by Kyle Higgins about Man-Bat and his classic condition that always comes back to haunt him, strangely enough, this issue doesn't dwell too much on the romantic side of his character but instead focuses on his own willpower and gives him a much stronger portrayal than usual. Kelley Jones' pencils get the best from the most horrific moments featuring the creature.

The next tale features Frankenstein in his usual quest to regain the love of his Bride. Tim Seeley manages to deliver a pretty exciting segment full of action that also demonstrates how much Frank cares about his ex-wife but also ends in a pretty surprising and sad way. Giuseppe Camuncoli's artwork is great and manages to get the best from every scene with a lot of detail.

Mairghead Scott follows with a story about Superman, Superboy and Solomon Grundy which while cheesy at times, presents touching moments that explore more about Grundy's nature and past. Bryan Hitch's pencils get the job done but they're not really that polished.

Raven by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing showcase a little date with a death man that ends-up being pretty heartwarming and I would say that is one of the best uses of the character in a while, certainly better than in her recent miniseries. Javier Fernandez' storytelling is on-point as always and depicts solid supernatural scenes.

Then comes a story about a better known Deadman written by Paul Dini that is not so much about love but instead touches relevant topics about bullying and dares to avoid presenting a stereotypical bully at the same time which is always good. Guillem March's artstyle is perfect for character expressions and storytelling.

Mark Rusell arrives with section about Swamp Thing which emphasizes the usual tragedy of the character and how even he might find love, he's always destined to have people who hate him, is really well-written and emotional. Frazer Irving's unique pencils really evoke the bizarre nature of the character and his powers.

Then comes a segment focusing on Monsiour Mallah and the Brain whose relationship has always been one of their most distinctive aspects and Steve Orlando does a good job a reminiscing some of their most relevant moments including their encounters with the Doom Patrol but at the same time I feel like this is a story that tries too hard to be overly compassionate to criminals just because they're technically a queer couple. Nic Klein's artwork was decent though.

I, Vampire by Alissa Kwitney is a decent tale about the consequences of becoming the lover of a vampire but it doesn't present an interesting enough plot. Stephanie Hans' pencils are appropriately somber though.

The Demon Etrigan is written by Phil Hester who presents a quite interesting example of how Etrigan and Jason Blood's condition affects other people around them and how they're destined to suffer for it, is probably one of the best written stories here and makes me wish to see more of Hester in the future. Mirko Colak's style is perfect for the script, he's able to depict many horrendous creatures and also emotional scenes.

James Robinson shows his usual love for obscure characters with a story about the Creature Commandos which is not so much about romantic love as much as the love these characters share for each other which is appropriate and heartwarming. John McCrea's style is a nice fit here since his usual rough finish is less apparent in a story featuring monsters.

Overall, is a pretty solid special and has many stories that I would highly recommend. Good read.