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Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing
Writer: Dan Shotz, Robert Levine, & Jason M. Burns
Artist: Alejandro F. Giraldo
Cover: Scott West

***Possible Spoilers***

“Civil War pt 3”: Hawkins and Jake are still trying to complete their mission and seek out help from a familiar face to assist them in getting the job done.  So after a bit of planning, it’s time to move in and spend the afternoon executing a prison break without getting killed in the process.  Back in Jericho, a bus has come into town and Skylar has returned from New York to a waiting Dale, and she’s got some good news for him.  He tells her that things have been quiet around the town, and we’re shown a quick peek at his deeds from last issue.  Also getting off of that bus is Emmett Green, who is the brother of Johnston Green, and he’s there to offer some support for his family and to attend a certain someone’s wedding.  At the reception, things get heated as Emmett voices his distaste at how things are being run in Jericho, and that the ASA has been welcomed with opened arms.  As other members look on and more heated words are exchanged, things escalate and punches are thrown, causing the matriarch of the Green family to step in.  Gail scolds her husband’s brother and tells him he has no clue what is going on in Jericho, and that she regrets not being able to tell him more.  Oh, and if you’re wondering about Jake and Hawkins, well their objective was moved from his cell to a different part of the base, causing them to have to alter their plans a bit.  I’m sure hoping things go well for those guys.

Three issues in and I’m just now adjusting to the comic format and how the story progresses much differently than the television series.  When you’re used to getting a lot more information in a 45 minute show, and then have to be satisfied with a 22 page story, it’s a little frustrating; well, at least for me it was.  So with that realization, I have to check myself when I’m being critical about the pacing of the book which has been a bit on the slower side, though this issue finally has a bit more action as Jake and Hawkins reach their objective.  However, while I would have liked to see more of the prison break action in lieu of some of the wedding scenes, the overall direction and character development is fine.

Now Alejandro is back for the visuals and he still nails the likenesses of the characters from the series very well,  especially with Gail and Hawkins.  I do prefer his style over Merhoff’s,  however the quality is inconsistent from page to page, making it frustrating at times, and making me think that maybe too much time was spent on character likeness and not enough on the backgrounds, or just about anything the characters interact with.  A panel with Hawkins immediately comes to mind, as he is visually on point, however the gun in his hand looks tiny and the finger isn’t even placed correctly.  The look of the issue isn’t terribly bad, but there is room for some improvement.

I will say that if the art isn’t stepped up, I’ll probably prefer that the book be released as a novel so I can continue enjoying the Jericho storyline without having any type of artistic expectations.  The story so far still has the feel of the television series and hasn’t lost its luster in my eyes, and so for that reason alone the book is still worth getting.

I kind of wish that Devil’s Due would have made this title more accessible to new readers who know nothing of the show.  Maybe a separate “Who’s Who” type of book, or character spotlights at the end of the issues would be helpful to get a new reader a bit more comfortable with the principal characters in the story.  I’m also going to say that I’m officially tired of seeing Hawkins and Jake on every cover that’s come out; let’s mix it up people, the cast is pretty big!

Infinite Speech
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