Comic - Raygun #3
Writer: Gregory Schoen
Pencils & Cover: Alonso Molina
Inks & Lettering: Paulo Rivas
It's already issue 3 of this brilliant comics series from Alterna Comics (read my reviews of issues #1 and #2) and a joint government agency task force, the Strategic Defence Initiative, has been set up to locate and recover the raygun which they have now codenamed “TESLA-1”. The search has been narrowed down after talking to some of the “victims” from the previous night’s fracas and they now know that they are after a school age boy who has the gun in his possession. The SDI task force decide to visit each of three primary schools who had trips to the museum exhibit from where the weapon was taken and plan to fingerprint and interview all the boys of the right age to try and gather some more information and retrieve what they are now calling a weapon of mass destruction from the hands of a kid. And then.... dinosaurs!
Yes, really, dinosaurs and a very cleverly done segue into a flashback, no not that far back, so that Matthew and his father can talk about his Dad’s background, how he became a robotics expert and why he wasn’t around when Matthew was growing up. This really added depth to both characters as we can watch the paternal bond form over just a few pages and that is something that I really love about this whole comic series, how there’s no sacrificing of the human aspect of the characters to keep up with the action. Talking of characters I enjoyed, and really empathised with, the babbling panic Matthew’s pal Rupert had as they were ordered to queue up at the school gym. He adds a good light humour to what is turning into an exciting tale as the tension ramps up, especially with that cliffhanger ending to this issue – I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
As ever the art is lively and interesting and I must make special mention this time of the cover art (top) as that yellow silhouette really adds a Saul Bass style Hitchcock twist to what could almost be a early-20th century propaganda poster of the government officials with great use of the lower viewpoint adding to the feeling of overbearing power, both of which are very effective and immediately puts you in the right frame of mind for the suspense that is to come.
Here is some more of the interior art and get hooked on the story so far, with the first few pages courtesy of Alterna, but I highly recommend you buy the comic to see the rest.
Buy Raygun #3 direct from Comixology.
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