REVIEW: Kaiju SCore #3

Rating if the Book Were a Movie: PG-13/R

Writer: James Patrick
Artist: Rem Broo
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Rem Broo
Editor: Mike Marts
Publisher: Aftershock Comics

When we left off in “Kaiju Score” #2 things were starting to get complicated. Marco’s brilliant plan to have the kaiju, Mujara, make landfall went off without a hitch. Our four antiheroes negotiated their way to be in prime position for the next phase of the plan. That’s where either Palmiero’s bad luck or Marco’s knack for making a critical oversight came into play. A second kaiju, Ikattu, has joined the party.

Ikattu also feeds on mullet fish and followed the huge abundance of them into shallow waters and also made his landfall near Mujara. Our third installment of “Kaiju Score” begins with a description of the types of personalities Mujara and Ikattu have. While for the most part Mujara is fairly docile unless confronted, Ikattu tends to be much more aggressive. He’s described as “most likely to piss off a nuclear power and die in a mushroom cloud”. Mujara hates him and instantly begins posturing for the impending fight.

Marco’s plan will still work. The team will have to go with a contingency plan; but it should be doable as long as Marco is able to pull another rabbit from his hat. The problem is that this rabbit requires help from a kaiju. All the while the team is under the gun as Pierson weighs the possibility of the heist actually being successful as opposed to killing the others for “Blackie” now and getting out before the kaiju destroy a city. No pressure.

Artwork: .75 Stars

I really liked the depiction of the kaiju on the very first page. I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. For reasons I can’t quite explain Palmiero and the chum bucket struck me as very powerful. 

Story: 1 Star

This story continues to have unique twists and turns. Every time the reader has a grasp on how things are going there’s another surprise. For being a kaiju story I’m impressed with how plausible the story feels. 

Dialogue: 1 Star

This issue delves deeper into the psyche of Pierson and through his conversation with Palmiero we get a fuller appreciation of what the stakes are for him. It’s easy to understand why he is weighing options.

Editing: 1 Star

The narrative describing the kaiju as if they were on a dating website was a very original and bold move. To me it worked brilliantly. That one page gave us everything we needed to know about Ikattu. 

Mechanics : Star

Every book in this series has been so easy to fall into. The tension becomes more palpable with every issue as the stakes keep getting higher. At this point in the series I have a vested interest in all of the characters. If I had a complaint about this book it would be that it ended too soon. Now I have to wait another month to see what happens next.

I would highly recommend getting in on this series. It’s a fun, quick read that doesn’t leave your wallet feeling like it pissed off a nuclear power.