Shatterstar #3 Turns Into A Brutal Noir Revenge Tale

Shatterstar has been something different each issue. The first issue was a bit of a relationship dramedy. The second was an action/chase story. Now this issue feels like brutal revenge noir, and that’s just one of its strengths.

Tim Seeley, Carlos Villa, Juan Vlasco, Gerardo Sandoval, Carlos Lopez, & Cory Petit move the story into a literal new world, wrapped in another stunning cover by Yasmine Putri. It reminded me of a superhero version of Taken, in the best way.
‘Star is on Horus IV, in disguise and trying to find his friends. He gets a lead on one of them and takes brutal retribution on the Death Sponsor holding him. However, the Grandmaster makes a deal with another that may cost everyone dearly…

Seeley’s perfectly in Shatterstar’s head still, but I really want to talk about what he’s done so far to show why this issue is so good. First, he got us invested in a bunch of goofball characters we’d never seen. Then he shows our hero narrowly fail to save them while sacrificing his own love. Now we’re invested and it makes the brutal revenge ‘Star gets in this issue all the more satisfying.
The art matches that extremely well. Villa and Vlasco give us a determined hunter, stalking his enemies. The fight between ‘Star and Deadair flows so well, and is full of brutal anger. Sandoval’s pages go a long way to establish Gringrave as an important villain and a lot of the current attitudes ‘Star has. This is all tied together with Lopez’s excellent colors.

This continues to be a fun miniseries that feels to be more and more overdue.
Shatterstar #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.