After last month’s fairly interesting and gore-infused installment, Deep State is back with its third issue. Is it good?
Deep State #3 (BOOM! Studios)
The story begins with a couple of major resolutions. One involves what happens to the sheriff (predictable) while another deals with the abrupt cliffhanger from the last issue (very well handled).
This is your brain on slugs. Any questions?
We also get to see Brand and Harrow interact a bit more, which is a lot of fun to read and probably the best part of the book. Unfortunately, the plot devolves even further into an Invasion of the Body Snatchers derivative before adding a small twist at the end to keep things interesting.
Is It Good?
I really want to like this book, but it can’t seem to stay good for more than a few pages at a time. Conversely, the sections that are not as enjoyable always seemed to be buffered by the good stuff just before the issue ever gets close to being “bad”.
The first place where this inconsistency is apparent is in the artwork. Ariela Kristantina’s pencils are all over the place. On some pages, she knocks it completely out of the park—fantastic storytelling, detailed facial expression, and striking visuals. On others, her work looks rushed and stilted.
As far as the story goes, Justin Jordan starts by giving us a really cool opening along with some superb dialogue between Brand and Harrow (although Harrow occasionally gets a bit too wooden). But then the middle portion meanders through a bunch of zombie/body snatcher tropes and predictable action sequences…which also happen to be where Kristantina’s work is at its best (ARRRGGGHH!!).
Right as I’m about to completely lose interest, however, Jordan throws a neat little curveball to keep me hooked.
So yeah…still not sold on this series, but not ready to give up on it, either.
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