MeSseD, Seasons 1 and 2, Comic Book Review

MesSed by author Jay B Kalagayan, Illustrations Dylan Speeg

Thank you so much to the MeSseD comic book team for providing me with copies of both seasons in exchange for this honest review.

MeSseD is an independent graphic novel series about the secret world within the sewers. It focuses on Lilliput, a sewer worker who seems extremely competent in her unusual position.

She’s an odd protagonist. She speaks in strangely simplified English, not using any frivolous adjectives or really any extra words than the bare minimum needed to get her point across. She has a pet rat that stays diligently on her shoulder. And she is extremely sympathetic to the homeless people who make the sewer their shelter.

She clears out sewer blockages and performs many tasks that most people never want to think about needing to be done to keep their cities running smoothly and cleanly. But this isn’t just some slice of life about a woman working a dirty job, it’s a science fiction action adventure at heart.

Lilliput battles or traps all sorts of strange monsters and creatures that live underground. She is tasked with capturing new specimens to bring back for analysis. But sometimes she just befriends them instead.

There is a whole world created on these pages that the first two seasons just skim the surface of. It’s clear that there is much more to the world of MeSseD than I’ve seen so far. I’m extremely curious to see how deep this world goes and will definitely be keeping a lookout for season 3 and beyond.

The art is eccentric with the bulk of the books in black and white. Some of the illustrations explore some interesting negative, white on black, images which I found captivating.

There are also page breaks with professional reports that fill in plot gaps not explored in the pictures. Dialogue is light in this book, the action is in the images.

The monster designs are new and exciting and there are also some supernatural elements that I am also excited to see explored further in later issues.

The first two seasons are a very quick read. It’s a simple book on the surface but I can tell that when the series is complete there will be many layers I just haven’t gotten to see yet. Think of these first issues as an introduction and color me intrigued.

I am always excited to find a book with an awesome leading lady protagonist. Lilliput is a strong, capable, competent human with job experience that puts her in a unique position to outshine anyone else in her department. She’s a hard worker and forceful but kind. She has a hardness from the manual labor but a soft spot in her heart. It’s endearing.

I see great things in the future of MeSseD, this introduction is solid and definitely going places.

3/5 rats 🐀🐀🐀

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Buy it here: https://www.messedcomics.com/season-1