People Talking About Stuff
Written by: John
Ridley
Art by: Georges
Jeanty, John Livesay, and Nick Filardi
Cover Price:
$3.99
Release Date:
September 27, 2017
After a solid start to the series, I’m excited to see how
John Ridley develops these characters and this story more. I had some trouble
getting into the first two issues having not read the original series, but I
think the character work in those issues gave me enough background to go from
there and understand the rest of the story. While this isn’t the type of story
I normally flock to, I think it’s an important book in today’s society and I’m
excited to see what this creative team can do with such a heavy subject. Let’s
see how they do in this third issue.
Having decided to run for governor of Alabama, Missy
Deveraux is on the campaign tour. The issue starts with her addressing the
recent riots and attacks started in the wake of Amber Eaton’s attack on a
police precinct, which left one cop dead. Missy is very forward in her stance
on these attacks: they will not be tolerated. While the interviewer gives
counterpoints, such as these attacks possibly being reactions to the outdated
views and stances by the government, Missy is firm in her stance that these
incidents need to be stopped.
In Oakland, at one People’s Liberation Front base of
operations, Amber and some of her team are watching the interview live on TV.
Her crew is afraid that the message being sent is for cops to kill them on
sight, labeling them as terrorists. Instead of running and hiding, Amber
decides to put out a communiqué, telling anyone who stands on the same side as
them to fight, and warning the “fascist police state that rules” that they are
criminals and will be judged as criminals.
Before she drops off the tape, Nikki Lau stops by her house
in Chinatown to talk to her mom. Nikki is the daughter of Johhny Lau, a
character from the original series that died because of his delusion that he
had super powers. Nikki tells her mom that she is going to fight with Amber and
basically tells her that she knows she is probably going to die.
In Baltimore, former Civil Defense Corps member Ersine Wells
AKA Secret Agent, goes looking to talk to Jason Fisher. Ersine wants Jason to
help bring in Amber so that people can stop dying. Not only will this stop some
deaths, but it might help Jason get back on the good side of the people that
are chanting at him calling him a sellout for helping white cops. Jason isn’t
having any of it though and kicks this guy out.
So, all of this eventually leads to a rally with Missy
delivering a speech saying that she will fight back against the people
resorting to violence. Midway through her speech, a man in the cloud bursts
into flames (think Human Torch) and starts hurling fireballs at Missy. She gets
away and her security tries to stop this guy but don’t stand a chance. Jason
eventually shows up, but he’s too late and the guy is long gone. Ersine is
there already and he tells Jason that this is obviously Amber’s doing. The
words “All Power to the People” are still burning on the wall in an alley near
the stage, and the issue ends with Ersine telling Jason that Amber is the one
that put it there.
Now I’m not going to sit here and fake the funk by saying
that this is the type of comic book that appeals to me personally and that it’s
a perfect issue because of the subject matter that it deals with. But I’m also
not going to say that it’s the worst comic I’ve ever read. Coming into each
issue, I know that it is meant to make a reader like me, someone that hasn’t
really dealt with much discrimination in my life, uncomfortable. And that is
okay.
This book is not shy about the subject matter that it
tackles and I think it should be commended for that. It may not be my cup of
tea, but I can still see the value in this series as a whole. It’s telling a
fairly interesting, multidimensional story while spending a lot of time
developing the characters and setting up the rest of the story moving forward. That
being said, this issue was very slow paced and almost entirely set up until the
little bit of excitement at the end. I still think the potential for a good
story is there, but I am going to need more progression moving forward.
Bits and Pieces:
This book just isn’t something that appeals to me as a comic
book reader. I think the art is great and the characters are really
interesting, but I just prefer some fun from my comics. I think there is a good
story forming here, but I’d like to see it pick up the pace a little bit. While
the subject matter being addressed is important to talk about, the story
surrounding that is taking a while to get up to speed and hasn’t yet grabbed me
or given me that “I need to read the next issue right now” feeling.
6.5/10
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