The Jungle Book #3
Publisher: Zenescope
Writer: Mark Miller
Artist: Carlos Granda (cover by Pasquale Qualano)
As Mowglii watches her “mother” die, anger visibly grows inside her. She immediately wants retribution, and who can really blame her? She does have the last remaining wolves and Baloo telling her that going after the tigers is a bad idea, but she decides to anyway. Before she gets too far, though, she’s attacked by a bunch of apes. These apes are super smart, extremely agile, and are accompanied by a human that they raised, named Dewan. The apes initially just seem to want to play with Mowglii, but when she refuses to play their game, she becomes their enemy!
Another brilliant issue by Miller is what you get right here. Again, the story is solid, and keeps you guessing from one issue to the next. The relationship between Baloo and Mowglii is the driving force in this issue, as it was in the previous, but that isn’t getting stale at all. The introduction of another human character has added even more depth to an already good story, too. Not that it’s even needed, mind you, but it definitely adds to the tale because it keeps you off guard. That is important for one big reason. If it was only Mowglii and a bunch of animals, you’d more than likely lose interest faster than not. Introducing a new human character once in a while keeps Mowglii on her toes, so it also serves the same purpose for the reader.
The artwork from Carlos Granda is not only familiar from previous work, but is also nothing short of breathtaking. He does a fantastic job with the animals, and that is no lie. The tigers look fierce, the apes intelligent, and the humans match up to their animal counterparts. Another new animal actually shows up in this issue, and it rocked! A giant python, who will be the main focus of next issue, and looked fantastic just like the rest, is seen on the last page, and it was super exciting! The colors are a real solid addition to the pencils, and the team of Liezl Buenaventura and Tim Yates were responsible for that. The covers are great as usual with any Zenescope title. If you haven’t seen many, go their website and check them out. Countless times they’ve put out remarkable stuff. Rating 4/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
