Firebreather #4 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Phil Hester
Artist: Andy Kuhn

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

The story of a teenage boy going through his parents divorce. The twist to this story is the boy’s father is a giant monster(think of an intelligent Godzilla). And his father wants him to become the king of the monsters.

Duncan starts to settle into a small town when he gets into a fight with a creature from his father’s past. Now, an astral projection of his father leads Duncan to a battle between his dad and monster hunting alien robots. Duncan defeats one of the robots only to find his father was mortally wounded.

In this issue, Duncan goes into final battle against the robot who wounded his father. By using the spear the robot put through his father, Duncan is able to triumph. His father dies and Duncan incinerates the body with his fire breath. Back on Earth, a father and daughter prepare a temple. A new master is coming to the temple.

Hester and Kuhn have crafted a fascinating story. The adventure of the half human, half monster Duncan are very well done. Duncan’s thoughts and actions are realistic for a teenage boy. He tries to make the best of a bad situation. I am definitely on board for future issues.

The art by Kuhn is not my favorite but it is appropriate for this series. A series featuring monsters can work with Kirby style monsters and cartoony drawings. It might not be my favorite type of art but it works for this series.

My favorite scene was the one where Duncan is watching his father’s body burn. The line at the top of the page reads “all the best heroes are orphans”. It was touching.

Highly recommended.