Neverland #3 (Zenescope – Brusha / DeShong / Embury / Campbell)
Cross and Wendy’s quest to find John and Michael hits a snag when the two are separated during their battle with the island natives. Wendy and Dr. Harlow are taken prisoner with little hope of rescue as they are about to be burned at the stake. Unfortunately Cross is in even worse shape as he falls under the spell of one of Neverland’s most sinister Sirens. Before they have any chance of saving the boys our heroes are going to have to find a way to save themselves.
Cross (Hook), Wendy and Dr. Harlow (Smee) find themselves in Wonderland hot on the trail of trying to get the John and Michael back before they are sacrificed to Pan’s eternal youth. And all that stands in their way in an angry tribe of Neverland’s native warriors who believe that Cross has stolen their princess… oh yea, and a school of carnivore mermaids. Good luck!
With Neverland, Joe Brusha continues to write an excellent adventure story, if not one to me that seems to be a bit of a tribute to the pulp melodrama. The three protagonists (hero, damsel and scientist) venture into a strange land ruled but a diabolical baddie to save some helpless innocence, but the reader knows that the story will not end until the evil tyrant is overthrown or the hero is dead. I don’t know about anyone else, but this smells a tad Flash Gordon-ish to me. Now, don’t get me wrong I think Joe Brusha is brilliant and I have enjoyed almost everything he has done. So when I say I see this as a tribute to the pulps of yesterday, I mean it… a loving yet original tribute, not a blatant re-telling of something that happen years ago (anyone else looking at Marvel’s catalog?). Brusha’s version of Neverland is nothing short than the twisted take on the classical Peter Pan that Zene-fans would expect. The bottom line is that Neverland is a sprint-paced R-rated blast to read. Jean Paul DeShong’s art is incredibly solid and emphasizes the action of the scene, a perfect fit for the frame-to-frame tempo that Brusha narrates.
Issue Grade: A
