TS) A @ ANN 8 eu RUS UROL Va UC CU SC UL ELC ECO i conceived Maika with the last living descendant of the Shaman-Empress so that CUCU SS ee RUS UO ce But the price of that information was high. After barely escaping the island with her life, Maika was OEE Cu) DU CUR UC RECREATE LLe Monstrum, Zinn, struck back, devouring every living soul aboard the Thyrian ship. ORE CRT UE LCRSeSMCU e W RUC RC UCU ER Ue Meee Lc board, though they regret, and despair, feared the certain wrath of the Thyrian Blood Queens. Overwhelmed by guilt, Maika made the rash decision to touch her fragment of an ancient and powerful DUES Sar ee Ue Mee eee LUO Uae OUT 6 AU eit US MAIKA An Arcanic teen who survived the Great War, and slavery at the hands of the Cumaean witch nuns. Ruthless and haunted, she is determined to uncover the truth Pau eer ae nC ee Sey ‘ree herself from an ancient and dangerous god called a Monstrum that is imprisoned inside her body and fills her with an otherworldly hunger for human flesh. In her OTC ees Ee Oe Se CCE Ceo that many would kill to possess. USC OO R nC ee mes icsn et cay PE Ree ee CE Cm POS ee Cg a ing the lives of humans and Arcanics alike, leaving only their desiccated corpses Se eRe DCO US SCO Uo ae ae Om a SCH ma MCMC ay Ca eR EU cna ae ee Ceca KIPPA An Arcanic fox girl saved from slavery by Maika. Innocent and optimistic, she is frightened by the Monstrum — but trusts Maika and will bravely defend her and Cee ee cr ee ne Ren OO SUM CEL Cee SCM en ane eC ea ay Pe ees Re eo ees‘OLP TOOTH IS. THE CAUGHTER OF AN ANCIENT. BLesse0 ay THE WAVE EMPRESS HERSELF. CiRota: amraren! Cea OF THE FIRST TREATY OF CANE FAIR WATERS, STIPULATION x EA arene Cages na Nes ie wachtod ened th ala arom rea felltard a Iter tieraely i Fe THAT SHIP IS CARRYING A FUG! 5 cee ec Cote a amcsetke) ENTER PONTUS.iC ICON ACROSS THe KAGUEA MOUNTAINS... MAKE TTA HARDER TARGET FOR THE FEDERATION, 'AND ITS SPIES. YOUR SHIPS ARE MORE ADVANCED, I'VE HEARD, THAN’ WHAT THE FEDERATION IS. CURRENTLY BUILONG. WOULDN'T KNOW, BARONESS. T PAY LITTLE ATTENTION To sucH THINGS, MODERN WARFARE 16 60 INELEGANT AND. BRUTISH, BUT Aas My DAUGHTER REMINDS ME, Tm OLD-FASHIONED. THE LAST Time T WENT INTO BATTLE TT WAS WITH MY ‘SWORD AND CLANS. WHAT you CALL LORE WAS NOTHING BUT A TRIFLING RE. THE BATTLES ‘THAT TRULY EVER TELLS TALES OF KNOW THAT BATTLE: THE CONQUERING OF MAD BAROU IS THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED ‘TO BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS "THE WARLO PRESENT? IVE BEEN HeRe FOR Weexs AND HAVE BARELY ‘SEEN HER,THE THIRD. WELL, WE'LL EA THe secon WILL HAVE PRICE. A FAITHLESS FRIEND Is INDCATVE Or A AND WHAT DOES A FAITHLESS GRANOMOTHER REFLECT? ORLY ON THE OUSK COURT AND ‘OUR NEGOTIATION. IF YOu CARED, YOu WOULD HAVE TORN APART THE KNOWN WORLD, DEFIED EVERVONE, ‘TO FIND HER. OUR YAPPING FOR Yo UNDERLINE, YOu WOULD HAVE LIFTED HER FROM THE FUCKING ASHES ‘OUT OF THE WAR WHEN WE WERE STARVING ’AND ALONE.TEAR SHED, AUREFUGEE CAMP IPOMTUS WATERS. My mother never fought me how to heten for silence. J learned that from you, Taya. aNO ONE HAS EVER BEATENy ‘THEIR 34S FROM HERE. AS IF THEY THINK 1D Be STUPIO ENOUGH TO SAIL ‘STRAIGHT FOR THEM. ‘BLOODS QUEENS ‘ARE WATCHING. THE PONTUS SER, BORDERS. WELL HAVE 10.60 OVER LAND, IF THE SEATSN'T AN AND END UP Risut Back NOT IF We GO SOUTH THROUGH HYKERNIA. ITLL Wioee we : STARTED, IN y fanee, 2H TANG URE He Soviu eae TO GROSS THE WALL. THEM ALONE, AND THEY WON'T BOTHER YOU. HAVE 70 RETURN TO THYRIA THE BLOOD QUEENS HAVE SOMETHNG T KNOW HOW 79 GET TT FROM THEM. WITHOUT DING. YOU SHOWS. HAVE MENTION THAT WHEN HE Leave tt, HALFWOLE. YOULL HAVE 10 BAT Upstairs. We DONT SERVE CATS COWN HERE:EVERYTHING SHE 'DID TO WeLP Us. SHO WORK ON YOUR ‘STRENGTH. VK (O” OAep A al Vc cA ‘e S&S6s, WHET TO LOVE RIONG THE TRAN?At | caw gids To WN iO stcr-1 Cia ra ito Pernt een ‘ err les Pritt en ncr REPOF PICTURE YOu PANT TROUBLING. WE BELIEVE THE MOTHER sureRioR PLOTTING 10 Seite CONTROL OF THE FEDERATION, AOMIRAL BRITO. Say, THERE MORE WORK YET 10 DONE: WE'VE RECEIVED A SELOW-2ORRD_ COMMUNICATION FROM THE ARCANIC ‘COURTS, THEY WISH TO REOPEN NEGOTIATIONS IN THE HOPES OF NORMALIZING RELATIONS BETWEEN ‘OUR NATIONS. NO ONE KNOWS OF THis BUT Me, THE PRIME MINSTER, ‘AND A HANDFUL OF TRUSTED SOCIATES. THERE ARE OTHERS LESS LIKELY TO B= NOTICED. BUT LADY ATENA HAS THE VOICE, AND YOu - THOUGH & MERE ARCANC ‘BASTARD -- WERE THE FORMER COMMANDER (OF AN ELITE HARPOON ‘SQUADRON. THINK You AND RESAK SHOULD ATTEND THESE: NEGOTIATIONS, yourne ALsO BOTH ‘TIED TO THE OLDEST NAVAL FAIILY IN THE FEDERATION. YOUR PERSPECTIVES ARE UNIGUE, BND MOST OF ALL YOU ARE LOYAL. ICANT Just DISAPPEAR. AFTER ZAMORA, THE MOTHER SUPERIOR WILL BE WATCHING ME CLOSELY. AND THEN THERE'S MY ‘OTHER DUTIES ~ WILL NOT, PRETEND TO BE A SLAVE AGAIN, NOT FOR ANY REAGON 1010 NOT EXPECT you TO 00 50, THE TRAIN WiLL S TRANSPORT WILL BE WAITING, ALONG WITH NEW CLOTHIN THAT TIME.THEY HAVE: ACCEPTED? a AYOUN WHO Keer MENTIONED IN THE \ Reports asouT ZAMORA a THe Navy. MINISTER oye 35% ARMY WILL MOVE: Bones |AFE FROM MOTHER you se6, 1b REN CAN TH Ss Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnlineUL HAVE MOV! "70 THE HIGH LANES OF NTU, BUT DION. ORTINITY TO DO ME GOOD. Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnlineTHERE'S BEEN TURMOIL IN THE DUSK COURT. SINCE YOUR ESCAPE... AND THE SUBSEQUENT REALIZATION THAT YOUR BLOOD IS WELL AND TRULY AWAKE. SOMEONE WANTS A PIECE OF ME. AND THEN T RECEIVED WORD LAST WEEK THAT YOU... ACTIVATED. THE FRAGMENTS OF THE MAGK, I TOUCHED ONE OF THe FRAGMENTS TO SoM, © note wtice THEY PROPHESI THAT T WOULD DIE IN THYRIA. THis 16 THE POISON T WAS SUPPOSED TO you STIL wi, Mt BUT THE PRMIES OF THE FEDERATION ARE AMASSING, AND OUR NUMBERS ARE TOO FEW. 1 uSPECT WELL HAVE NEED ‘OF YOu, — wack BANS YOU 4 i AND WILL You HAVE ANOTHER SIMPLY STORM THE ‘TASK AHEAD ” CITADEL, FIERCE OF YOu. ‘ONE?S Sa ih \" i > a DVN \\\\} : os Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnlineMY VIEN. NEM, < ROYAL ENGINEER (OF PONTUS, ARCANIC BY WAY ‘OF THE HIND ‘QUEEN. YOURE A RAT KNEW WHAT T aerbad eleRrniNG THAT HAPPENED IN THE BORDERLANDS WITH THE MOTHER SUPERIOR. AND IT 15 wy HONOR TO MEET THE BLOOD HEIR OF THE SHAMAN- EMPRESS, BEEN WATCHNG YOU EVER SINCE CONSTANTINE. NOW THar. INFORMATION SOMETHING YOU ‘CAN USE TO BARTER, is IT? AND Tit THE CURRENCY? ‘COME NOW. LEAVE THE ‘CROW ALONE. HE'S CONE US ALLA GREAT FAVOR. T KNEW THERE WOULD BE YOUVE HeaRO OF THe PONTUS. SHIELD, TFiy MOTHER GAB Sue WOLD HAVE GIVEN HEB LEFT..uit THE SHIELO | OLD, AN ARTIFACT ‘OF THE SHAMAN: IT RAN CONTINOUSLY HE WAS, AND FOR ‘COS REAGON WE SHUT IT DOWN AFTER THE TREATY OF ORLEEN, BUT NOW, GIVEN CURRENT. RUMBLNS...PONTUS FEELS IT NOULD BE BEST ‘TO.PREEMPTIVEL.. ACTIVATE Tr.WHILE THE ARS MAY HAVE YOu ANS yOuR FRIENDS, LADY 0023 NOT DOUBLE DeALis = 13 S S B =fn excerpt of «lecture from the esteemed Professor Tam Tam, forme First Recrd-Keeper ofthe Is"hami Temple, and learned Contemporary of Namron Black Claw... ‘Mariko, ever the scholar, discov- cred something in one of the Dawn Court's hidden archives. The Poets never located the precise document, but it changed the trajectory of Moriko's life. It would be a lie to say that the Poets are impartial witnesses to history, though they strive to be exact and sincere, unbiased by resentment and faithful to the truth. Poets forall their training ond blessings from Ubosti are sil, cfter all, cats. And cats have been known to tell pleasant lies ‘bout ourselves, particularly o outsiders. She not only resigned her commission, she abandoned the Dawn Court altogether ond began to obsessively search the cold ruins of the Shaman- Empress. Humans ond Arcanics, however, are far less willing to record uncomfortable truths, to sit even for a moment with that which is difficult. And so, much is erased ~ and forgotten. Consider the fact that the Warlord, Sword of the East, had a twin sister: Moriko Halfwolf, the Blade of Dawn, and the favorite of her mother, the Queen of Wolves, The Queen of Wolves held out hope that Moriko might soon relurn, but her eldest daughter never again set foot in the Dawn Court. Another missing fc from the Arconic histories: both wins were Blessed by the Ancestas, oth chosen to command the Arcanic cxmies os Warlords ‘As the eldest, Moriko was the first blessed - and would have made a superior Warlord She was powerful of mind, imposs- Two years after she ebsconded, ble to foo, ond ruthless saegis. More vitally, Morko was her sister was named Warlord, Favored by their mother. Sword of he Eas. The younger sister, however, was not without her merits; she ‘was a great warrior, supremely confident, and her hatred of the humans wos legendary. She had one other advantage: she looked Arcanic, and telling, her older sister did not, It would be simplistic fo argue that the younger sisters appear: ‘ance alone made her moro popular with the people of the Dawn Court. But it would be downright foolish fo say it played no part. Moriko might have had the Queen's hear, but her younger sister had their people's. The Poet assigned to the court, Arkus Furfr, predicted a dire future in which civil war might break out between the sisters cand theit supporters. But something else happened instead, something strange and unexpected, the sort of contingency for which a Poet must always be prepared.Dear Poets, It’s been a very long break. Maybe too long, but | hope you'll agree that we used the time wisely to bring you another arc filled with Sana’s extraordinary art, and a story that brings you deeper into Maika's increasingly perilous quest. This year, we saw many of you in Seattle, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, New York, Singapore, Lucca...and in those encounters we were humbled and encouraged by your enthusiasm, generosity, and kindness. You came with friends, with family, with children, with your well-read comics and trades. You shared so much with us — about what MONSTRESS has meant to you, how the book has inspired and accompanied you, as people of color, as women of color, as artists, as readers, as the immigrant kid who wants to be an artist in a family that doesn’t support them. These conversations and your emails kept us going these past months. You have no idea what your support and your love means to Sana and me. Hopefully we'll see some of you again real soon. But until then -- welcome back to the Known World and to the saga of Maika Halfwolf. Love, Marjorie 8 SanaFriends of MONSIRESS.. lend their talent and vision fo some favorite characters... KRIS ANKA Artist of RUNAWAYS twitter.com/kristaferanka kristaferanka.tumblr.comC 1 ist of LEGEND OF KORRA Sot _— twitter.com/kohquette UAC AC a, \Mens R URSA i er.com/sa eU! * at aime#monstressDOREY ib) NT UKAvOSY (UTA) O10) | ILLUSTRATED BY SANA TAKEDA LETTERING 8! DESIGN BY RUS WOOTON aD) M Aa SUT EDITORIAL Assistant: CERI RILEY MONSIRESS CREATED BY STOTT CaLee SSN