‘Joyride #3’ Comic Book Review

Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, Art by Marcus To, Colours by Irma Kniivila, Letters by Jim Campbell

The plot thickens. We’re on the third issue of Joyride now, and the characters are starting to get layers and plots are starting to gather direction. One of the great things about this series is that, so far, it has been very character-driven and, while the plot has had a lot of huge action set-pieces, it has allowed time for the personalities to develop. That’s not to say it’s totally action-less. There’s plenty here to entertain the casual reader.

In the last issue, I was pleased to see the character of Dewydd getting a little more attention. In this issue, he saves the day big time. Issue two saw the group end up in a quarantine zone, which new crew member, Kolstak warned was dangerous. Now we get to see that danger: a huge, sentient Death Star-like weapon called Protex, programmed to preserve life and keep beings out of the quarantined zone.

Joyride 3

Without spoiling it, Dewydd cleverly outwits Protex after it takes a shot at Uma and Catrin. It’s great to see him take charge and even influence other strong characters. It’s such a far cry from the quiet character we were introduced to in the first issue. A lot of books could learn from this kind of character development.

Catrin and Uma also have a few things revealed about them. Catrin in particular has a big secret revealed that affects her relationship with Uma while the two are drifting in space following the attack. These extra layers just add to the already well rounded characters and make for great reading.

Visually, this issue continues the series’ excellent art quality. Each panel is consistently as good as the last, and besides a slightly overlong dancing sequence at the start there’s not a panel that’s wasted. Every image has a story to tell, and this is so good to see because so often comics have an lot of filler where they could be advancing the plot.

In regard to the artwork, there are two things that stood out to me. The first was the image of Catrin and Uma floating over a planet while a creature from inside the planet makes a move to attack them. It was such a powerful image due to the size of the creature and how powerless and small the unaware duo appeared. Second was the colour choices when dealing with flashbacks from Uma and Catrin’s minds. Uma’s were a cool blue and seemed very chilled in keeping with her chilled out personality, while Catrin’s were red and showed a difficult childhood. It helped show the differences in their childhoods while also showing certain parallels.

If there is to be anything negative said about Joyride #3 it’s that at times I had to re-read confusing sections, but it’s such a minor quibble that it hardly affects the overall quality of the reading experience.

So, yet another fine addition to the series. Such an enjoyable comic book with great characters and solid development. Bring on issue #4.

Comic Book Review
85%
Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)
BRAND PARTNERS
Recent Posts