The Ray #3
Publisher: DC Comics
Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Jamal Igle
Cover: Jamal Igle & Rich Perrotta
Things go from bad to worse for Lucien in this issue, and things couldn’t have been better! Though the issue does have a much darker tone to it than the previous two, Palmiotti and Gray’s shift doesn’t seem out of place. Sure, the light-hearted jokes were welcome, but with a girlfriend in danger and innocent people dying in the streets, it was time for a more serious tone. Though I’m not sure how serious we’re talking when you take into consideration the origin of the villain, Graham Filmore. To the over critical fan it may seem quite silly, but if you’re just having fun with it then you’ll realize it’s awesome B-movie type fun. What makes him work even better as a villain is that he’s written as pretty unstable and has no regard for human life. A pretty dangerous combination, if you ask me.
This is also one of the better looking titles on the shelves today thanks to Igle, Perrotta, and Majors. When you get the trifecta of pencils, inks, and colors, then you really can’t go wrong when it comes to visuals. Our hero actually looks like a living laser, and it’s great that Igle’s characters are so expressive and sync right up with Gray and Palmiotti’s script. There was a bit of laughter when the villain was in full costume, because it looked like Sark (from Tron) and Magneto’s costumes got together and had a kid! Another great scene was The Ray being curb stomped by giant robots, which was just disturbing on a few levels.
All in all, The Ray is yet another of the great mini-series to come out of DC’s New 52. Mostly because in a short time Palmiotti and Gray have made this incarnation of The Ray one of the more interesting and entertaining alongside the three previous ones. Great art and story meet right here, so grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy The Ray!
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
