4 out of 5

Quite to the point: Liz don’t take no guff.

In the same way that Arcudi edged Abe Sapien toward a more compelling, take-charge character, Monsters sees him – with new artist Tyler Crook – shifting her rather whiny, stand-offishness into something more badass.  Instead of rolling our eyes at her attempts to isolate herself, we’re brought to sympathize with her just wanting to be left alone; holed up in a trailer park, forever trying to get some sleep, impolite neighbors and rowdy drunks trigger her ire, with a brief dream sequence a perfect summary of the guilt that’s keeping her there.  And then, just like a classic Hellboy tale, things erupt into chaos around her, as the whole trailer park suddenly comes under the influence of… something.

Crook is a wonderful replacement for Guy Davis, having his own loose, stylized take on the B.P.R.D. world and characters, but with a bit of a sleeker, more action-capable line.  Dave Stewart might take a couple issues of coloring to warm up, though, as his flats – which have worked well with Davis, and Mignola-mimicking others – aren’t lively enough for Crook’s panels, but this might only be noticeable having gotten used to Crook’s coloring of his own work on Harrow County.

Some cutaways to other B.P.R.D. business are just kinda stuffed in here to set its timing amongst other goingons; they aren’t very smoothly inserted, but they’re short enough to not takeaway from the solidness of the core story.