From publisher Aftershock, writer Marguerite Bennett, artist Rafael de Latorre, colorist Rob Schwager and letterer Marshall Dillon comes the breakout comic hit of 2016 – Animosity. Here is my review of issue #3.
One day, the Animals woke up.
They started thinking.
They started talking.
They started taking revenge.
Now, a dog and his girl are trying to get away–out of New York City, and all the way to San Francisco, to the only person who might be able to protect and save her. From the writer of INSEXTS, A-FORCE, and BOMBSHELLS and the artist of SUPERZERO, comes a new kind of road trip, a new kind of black comedy, and a new kind of coming-of-age.
Marguerite Bennett has quickly become one of my favorite comic writers this past year and deserves to be praised right alongside powerhouse creators like Garth Ennis and Brian K. Vaughan. With her sharp dialog, twisted story and original ideas that artist Rafael de Latorre is bringing to life in spectacular fashion, Animosity is the best new series of 2016 and the breakout comic hit of the year. Bonus points in this third issue for Bennett’s real-life obsession with Sandor Clegane from Game of Thrones making it’s way into Animosity with a funny little explanation where a Bison tells our little lead that she’s too young for those books.
After a chaotic and blood-drenched ending to issue 2 which was so violent and frantic, I kind of thought Sandor the bloodhound was killed. I got a tad lost in the carnage, but it appears some time has passed and our duo of Jesse and Sandor are talking about Pokemon and riding a badass whale towards the Animilitary stronghold. Yes – the Animilitary – a place where turtles have missile launchers strapped to their backs and Koalas fire glocks for target practice. Sandor struck a deal to help out the animal military as long as they can grant him and his human to safe passage to California.
Issue 3 is mostly a transitional issue, with a lot of dialog and more interesting revelations which may or may not eventually lead us towards an explanation as to why the animals started talking and you know – fighting back for all the horrible shit we did to them in years past. We are introduced to a new character in Mimico, a wolf who leads the Animilitary outpost… By the end of the issue we are in the midst of a hostage negotiation and prisoner exchange which will no doubt lead us directly into some amazing crazy shit in issue #4.
I’m in love with Animosity. I don’t want to stop reading it and the month to month wait is breaking me emotionally. This is an epic tale that deserves to be read. From the shocking and epic first issue which shows the animals slowly waking up in a shitstorm that makes all apocalypse series and films weep for not doing it as well as Animosity does, to the calm moments when we see Jesse picking Sandor as a puppy during an emotional flashback in this latest issue, — we are witnessing a classic in the making just as we did with Saga a couple years back.
Rating: [star rating=”5″]