Review: INFERNO GIRL RED is a Fiery and Heartfelt Story with Tokusatsu Action
Back in 2021, Mat Groom and Erica D’Urso launched a Kickstarter campaign for their tokusatsu-inspired graphic novel Inferno Girl Red. I backed it so quickly and pledged enough to get the nice hardcover copy of the book. Then, earlier this year, they were able to fulfill the backer orders and I received my copy and it was gorgeous. Sadly, I was only recently able to read the graphic novel and it’s incredible. If you missed out on the Kickstarter, don’t worry. Inferno Girl Red is being released in three parts with #1 already out and available at your local comic shops with all three being collected in paperback this July.
I backed Inferno Girl Red for a few reasons. First, I love the character design and art in general for the comic. D’Urso did an incredible job in both those departments and Igor Monti killed it with the colors. Second, it was part of the Massive-Verse which is a comic book universe I have come to love. It all started with Radiant Black from Kyle Higgins, but it has grown into so much more and Inferno Girl Red is a fantastic addition. Third, I’m a sucker for pretty much anything inspired by tokusatsu.
Inferno Girl Red tells a really fantastic story about a girl named Cássia and her mom moving back to the big city to go to school after the same city basically chased her mom out of town. The reason? Her mom would report on the hero Inferno Girl Red, but no one believed that Inferno Girl Red was real. Well, after some crazy events, the entire city gets lifted off the ground and one thing leads to another with Cássia becoming the new Inferno Girl Red and having to stop the bad guys. I’m doing my best to not spoil anything, I promise.
The way this story is told is so much fun. We have genuine character moments throughout. We meet great characters that feel like they’d exist in this world. It’s a brisk pace which keeps you engaged longer and is divided into three parts that I could see easily being adapted into a 3-part animated miniseries. It feels like you are reading a television show and I love it. I will admit that there’s not much mystery in the story. The little mysteries they establish like the identity of the bad guy are pretty obvious. However, I don’t hate it. In fact, I don’t mind it at all. It doesn’t need to try to have some crazy twist to be good.
At the end of the day, Inferno Girl Red is a story about belief and believing in one’s self and it’s so well done. Maybe it’s just where I am right now, but it’s so important right now to hear this message and see such wonderful people supporting their friends.
Whether it’s the art or the writing or the character design, I cannot find any fault with Inferno Girl Red except one. There is no more of the story announced at the moment. The book ends on a pretty big note that clearly shows what the next couple of arcs will probably be, but there have been no announcements regarding a Book Two. In fact, on Twitter, Groom responded to my cries for a Book Two with this:
I hope that we don’t have to wait too long for more Inferno Girl Red. I love these characters and the stories being told in it. The art is incredible. If you’re interested in reading Inferno Girl Red, go ahead and read it. If you’re concerned because you haven’t read any other parts of the Massive-Verse, don’t be. The stories are purposefully written so that they are 100% independent of each other with even the crossover comics being independent of everything else.