Ah man… I hate being right sometimes. If you read my last review you know what I’m talking about. Even though my guess was correct, I was still impressed by Zander Cannon’s fifth issue of Kaijumax. Mostly because I didn’t know how he’d have things play out exactly and that’s why we read comics folks! Like the last issue there are two big story points in this issue. No surprise is that Electrogor makes another misstep and trusts the seduced doctor. She’s seemingly in love with Zonn, so much so that she goes against her own manifesto laid out in the previous issue. It’s a good scene and you can’t help but really feel for Electrogor. But that’s not the two story points I’m talking about!

Jeong, the guard that’s been shaky ever since taking a life, goes off the handle. I won’t spoil it, but it’s pretty fucking great and what was even better was how the ending was handled. The ending, ties into a character death. If you’re following the series, then you should be able to figure it out because Lil Boy has been pushing for it for three issues now. Let’s just say that the results are nothing of what you’d expect. Its gruesome and quite fitting for the rest of the story.

The visuals are always great. I will always praise the way Cannon illustrates this very mature story with the contrasting artwork. The artwork is always clean and inviting, but also really bright and almost fun looking. Which is just the total opposite of everything that happens. It definitely helps keep the story from getting too heavy, but damn… it still manages to feel that way. I can’t give Cannon enough praise for the art direction. Please don’t let it fool you if you haven’t checked Kaijumax out.

This is a series that always challenges me as a reviewer. The story is complex and so it feels a bit pointless reviewing it without going over spoilers and hard details, but I think this issue is the easiest to not do that too because of the payoff it delivers. With every issue, I have no idea where Zander Cannon will take this very mature look at the Kaiju in prison, but I’m always on board. Which is strange because I usually hate mature prison stories because they’re mostly a terrible look at something that’s actually happening right now. I guess telling the story with giant monsters softens the blow and holds my interest. With that said I’m really looking forward to reading the next issue and seeing some of these story treads come to a conclusion.

Score: 4/5

Kaijumax #5 Writer/Artist: Zander Cannon Publisher: Oni Press Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital