Reborn #3 Review

Reborn #3

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Greg Capullo
Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Colorist: FCO Plascencia
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Publisher: Image Comics

A review by Stephanie Pouliotte

The latest issue of Reborn certainly isn’t short on action, as Bonnie and Big Tom journey through the woodlands of Adystria only to be ambushed by raiding parties from the Dark Lands. But for all its fierce battles and tense action sequences, the story lacked substance as the characters stumble through various encounters more in an effort to introduce villains and reveal new settings than to explore Bonnie’s role in the story.

Reborn #3 begins with the father/daughter duo running into an old friend named Ernie, who is promptly devoured from astride his flying elephant by a giant chimera-like creature. The lion-headed dragon named Arimathea, who is a lover to Lord Golgotha, leads a flock of viscous dragons that tear through every living creature in sight. It’s pretty gruesome and I found it a little odd that Bonnie and Big Tom, who remain hidden, are able to shake it off so quickly and resume their leisurely stroll through the woods . You’d think they’d be on their guard after witnessing dragons raiding the countryside, but they don’t seem that concerned as they have a quick heart to heart in the middle of a potentially hostile enchanted forest. Sure enough they get ambushed by another raiding party shortly after and are easily subdued. There’s a moment where Bonnie briefly taps into her warrior abilities, but she’s knocked out before she can use them.

However, Bonnie’s able to tap into them again when they make their escape from a shantytown in the Dark Lands, and takes on a group of demon fighters single handed. She has no idea what she’s doing though; her body seems to be on autopilot when she’s in warrior mode. The whole magic warrior instincts that manifest involuntarily feels like a bit of a cop out to me. We haven’t really learned anything about the person Bonnie is now that she’s been Reborn and as much as we know she’s making it up as she goes along, she doesn’t really do anything to connect with her abilities or to reveal her character. In this issue she’s still somewhat passive despite actively engaging in fights. Her powers are kind of just there when she needs them and it feels like the incremental fighting is constructed around a desire to see them in action. But knowing Millar, there’s bound to be more to it than that and there’s still a lot we don’t know about the afterlife.

We continue to see some of the best work from Capullo, with finely detailed panels that capture the grittiness of this magical, yet gruesome fantasy world. Not to mention that such an action-packed issue really showcased his mastery in dynamic line work and makes me excited to see what other epic spreads will come from this series.

Verdict
Check it out. Reborn #3 is mainly spent introducing some new characters and settings, but it keeps the readers engaged with an action-oriented story and some exceptionally detailed artwork. We do get to see the first of Bonnie’s warrior abilities, which I personally found to be a bit underwhelming, but I’m sure there’s depth to it that has yet to be explored.