For its ten-year anniversary, Sydney and LA-based publication Monster Children published a retrospective book highlighting the best and most controversial moments in the magazine’s history.The book contains reproductions of some of the best covers, artwork, and photographs from past issues, as well as lively interviews with contributors and other important people that have shaped the magazine over the years. To define Monster Children is difficult. There is clearly a cohesive aesthetic and a strong point of view, but unlike many culture magazines, Monster Children does not limit itself to only one segment. It brings together surf, skater, street art, and rock culture seamlessly and has shown that a magazine can focus on many topics without losing its vision. When asked how to explain the magazine to people, founder Campbell Milligan stated “We didn’t really know. Ever since the beginning it’s always been really hard to classify.”
Monster Children has also had a history of boundary breaking. Past covers and editorials have featured such controversial images as a child smoking, a baby sleeping near wads of cash and crack cocaine, and a monkey with a gun to its head. Monster Children makes it a point to shock, not for the sake of getting attention, but for the artistic and political statement. The many interviews featured in the book are also refreshingly personal and unapologetic. Skateboarder Dylan Rieder and photographer Mike Piscitelli are two of the cultural forces interviewed, and each conversation is raw, honest, and occasionally shocking, much like the magazine itself. The look and design of the book also speaks to Monster Children’s success. The unique visual graphics and typography of the magazine have made it a model in the design world. Each spread in the book is clean and graphic with an edge, and its rejection of conventional magazine formats has set it apart from other culture publications. Though the people featured in the book talk of the death of print and the movement to digital publications, Monster Children is sure to be a force in the art and cultural worlds long past its ten years.
