Patriotika #3

Patriotika #3

Antarctic Press 2020

Written by Ron Z

Illustrated by Danusko Campos

Lettered by Keith Perkins

Cover by Ashley Witter-Maczko

Patriotika goes up (and down and sideways) against the gravity-controlling supervillain Zero G and her empowered army of ninjas. The Sun God Twins have a big surprise for her too. Patriotika could use a friend this time-so here comes the Colossal Collateral Dee!

I am enjoying this series so far. I think Antarctic Press gets something of a bad rap because this is some quality storytelling and yes it’s got that emphasis on women and ripped up costumes but tradition I suppose. Still if I can get behind this level and quality of storytelling than everyone else can too. What impresses me here is that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a god merge with a mortal to create a costumed hero but this one stands out for a few reasons. How it happened for one and that with her friends there watching it happen well that’s another aspect that makes this a lot more approachable and believable. Also be on the lookout for a few things that occur throughout because it will play a larger role as the series continues.

I am thoroughly enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. With the way that this is structured and how we see the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and merge into the main story feels absolutely right. The way everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow is delightful to see and it is what creates the feeling that this has such an organic feel to how we see the events. The character development we see here is phenomenal! How they act and react to the situations and circumstances as well as how we view the dialogue here really does help to flesh out these characters continuously. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way it takes us on a crazy fun ride.

I mentioned earlier about how organic the flow of events in the story feel. I think this is one of my main reasons for enjoying this as I do. I think the way that characters are introduced and how we learn about them as the story moves forward shows some extremely good talent from Ron.

I am a huge fan of the interiors here. The linework that we see is crisp, clean and tight and while it almost has this American Manga feel to it it’s the detail work we see that elevates how we see things. While it is true the women have tremendously large boobs that defy gravity themselves this fact is shown in ways that make other characters mention it. So whether it is going to be a running joke remains to be seen. I do like the way we see backgrounds being utilised and when they aren’t how the composition within the panels is utilised is incredibly well done. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this extremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work we see is also extremely well rendered. I would like to see some gradation utilised alongside the colour blocking especially in the skin tones but that’s just me. Seeing the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is a joy.

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This is one of the more interesting offerings that have hit stands in this crazy year. The writing is sensational and the characters and their development we are seeing within the pages alongside this beautiful artwork leave us wanting to see more and more. With so much available this is one that makes you laugh, giggle and manage to take seriously all at the same time because the talent and creativity within this book is sensational!