Maru Kiru Destroy the Moon Volume 2 is a comic created by Brandon Albetski. Maru Karu undergoes changes as she continues her quest to destroy the moon. This is a fantasy comic with drama and strong violence that stars a woman determined to kill a god. The woman in question is Maru Kiru, she is skilled fighter with a strong rage within her as well as magic ability. We’ve been getting hints about her past but this time around we get a clearer look at her backstory. She’ll come across many unique people with different skills and powers that impact her journey in many ways. The story begins where the last one left off, with Maru going head-to-head with Cult of the Moon member and ruler of Tanaris Ju’Val. Maru finds herself at a disadvantage as Ju’Val is well-trained and has powerful magic and is determined to humiliate her in front of the crowd. The violence here is very bloody and gory with gruesome attacks. The pacing is a bit faster than average as there are a good number of low-to-no word pages. The tone is serious with some spiritual/psychedelic vibes at certain points. The intensity is high especially when there is potential for violence but there are moments of calm. The dialogue here is aggressive and it can get poetic both in the narration and conversation with some wordless picture-only back-and-forths. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an exciting comic that moves the story forward and fleshes out the leading lady while showing us more of this world.
The art here is detailed, very stylized, and cartoonish with some thick lines and notable lighting. The colors seem to be taken from a psychedelic palette with plenty pink, orange, and green here. The sky is the strongest part of the scenery going from night to day and in-between. We do revisit the desert with its lengthy stretches of emptiness as well as more mountainous regions. There are many distinct locations here from an arena to a body of water to an altar. The backgrounds here usually show the surroundings and have colors that change on a panel-by-panel basis. The expression level here hovers around average as the only person really giving us different looks is Ju’Val. The range is mainly anger, happiness, or stoic with a few moments of sadness. The faces have a decent to high amount of detail and can get a bit animated so all the different expressions come across clearly. The magical effects are bright but can occasionally have trouble standing out against the rest of the art. The violence here is physical and involves weapons with a large amount of blood and heavy gore. Some of the gruesome attacks lead to dismemberment. The action scenes are grand spectacles and tend to have a low panel count with an overall smooth flow.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like fantasy stories starring a woman with heavy violence and drama then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gore.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I can spare you this pain, dear Maru.”
Physical Link: https://ko-fi.com/s/e88bbcbb4c
Digital Link: https://ko-fi.com/s/da433d1014
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brendanalbetski/maru-kiru-destroy-the-moon-volumes-1and2/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 87
Violent Pages: 25, for 29% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 1, for 1% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 5
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 3
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 2
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
