Pennyworth #3

Pennyworth #3

DC Comics 2021

Written by Scott Bryan Wilson

Illustrated by Juan Gedeon

Coloured by John Rauch

Lettered by AW’s DC Hopkins

Continuing the hit spy series that tells the tales of Alfred Pennyworth’s pre-Gotham years! As Alfred fights his way through the tunnels below the North Pole base-without wrinkling his suit-he searches for information about the Soviets’ bizarre weapons. Finding himself trapped in the belly of the operation, he discovers threats more terrifying than anything he’s ever faced and realizes that in the end, he may prefer violence and danger to that most famous of all foes: a broken heart.

I am loving this series and it is rather impressive how seamlessly this series melds the television program and the comic book franchise together that they seem like a natural part of each other. I will say one thing, I kept thinking that the big reveal was going to happen in the present not in the past and I like that I was surprised by the timing of it all. Though it was easy to see that it was going to happen and the further I got into the story the more convinced I was that we were going to see it. Alas my poor heart has already been broken (Prince Tendai Mugebe in Erudite) was a quote that immediately popped into my head and wow it really is apropos.

I am absolutely loving 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. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter not only keeps their personalities ever changing, growing and evolving but also at the forefront of who they are. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we’re literally on the edge of our seats with anticipation!

I greatly appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. These layers open up these new avenues to be explored and they also add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the book. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are classic comic book style and it really helps to bridge that telly and comics feel more related. The linework is sharp, clean and crisp and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work we see is extremely well rendered. I would like to see more backgrounds being utilised but thanks to how we see the composition within the panels bringing out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of the size and scope of the story it works without them. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.

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There are some memorable lines in this issue that really kind of hammer home how Alfred understands Bruce and his actions. That and the fact we pretty much see him doing the same thing only in service to the crown. I love that we’re getting this spotlight on Alfie because he’s always been that enigmatic fatherly figure to Bruce and we knew he had a whole life before becoming the Wayne’s butler and it’s nice to see this happening now. The writing is spectacular and the characterisation is utterly delightful and these classic comics interiors really bring to life his time as an action hero of sorts.