Reading issue #3 of Petrol Head was like watching a NASCAR driver undergo a tire blowout on the 25th lap. Maybe it was somewhat nerve-wracking, bordering on harrowing, but that didn’t mean the whole thing had been lost. All it took was a quick course correction to recapture any of that lost momentum.
Luckily, creators Rob Williams and Pye Parr brought things firmly back on track with an especially solid fourth issue.
In some ways, I see issue #4 as a kind of montage of what Petrol Head as a whole does really well: we got a comedic bit of insight into how The O runs things (without negatively impacting the seriousness and thematic intent of the moment); some great family building between Petrol Head, Lupa, and Dave the bird; a touching moment of loss (if you don’t tear up a little at this one, your heart is a busted Camaro engine); and some compelling, action-heavy stakes for the next issue. It was an issue that balanced all of these ideas and sentiments — emotional, comedic, political, etc. — and gave everything the same kind of high-energy and overall attention. Plus, I think what made this issue a more meaningful correction over issue #3 was that it gave us opportunities to stop and look around but still kept up some sense of danger or overarching intensity, and that felt like this kind of tour de force of truly big moments.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
That’s even true when it doesn’t feel like anything especially massive happened. Even the big emotional tent poles of this issue — the aforementioned reveals around The O and the issue’s sudden loss of life — are treated with a kind of brutal efficiency. They’re moments that are allowed to land but things keep driving right along. Rather than feeling somehow less powerful or significant, I think this issue demonstrated that Petrol Head is at its best when the race truly never ends, and the readers are left to keep moving even as they have to clearly grapple with whatever big emotional event just occurred. That core process feels not only exciting but almost mirrors life — we’re forced to keep our foot on the gas through some very heady stuff, and reconciling things can be a challenge at that speed.
But we make it work somehow, and we only face this ceaseless gamut through the joys of what’s on the horizon and the strength of our bonds. As our little trio (plus Satnav Sid, of course) bonded across their shared mission, we really got to see them come alive in a major way for the rest of this truly wacky (and sometimes heartbreaking) race.
All of this textural narrative variety and robust emotionality is just the kind of open road that you’d want to present to Parr for art duties. Over the first three issues, he’s really put in some solid work, building this near-future hell with some massive colors, epic perspectives, a proper sense of momentum, and even instances of high-octane emotionality.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
Issue #3 may have suffered some from a distinct lack of this intent and energy, but issue #4 really seized on the diversity of the narrative and its various tones and happenings to give us something substantial. The overall design work from Parr continues to be really important; in this issue, he got to play with some new vehicles and tech, and I think that offered up a shot in the arm that let some of that overt joy and clear passion/commitment really shine through.
However, at lot of this book’s real success isn’t just in finding mostly novel ways to give us big, rush-inducing racing action but rather the small moments where the intersection between action and comedy can be fully explored. That includes some shiny but hilarious stuff with the racer Hybrid, and even the way that Dave the bird moves through the air — these were moments where we could laugh and engage and just appreciate this very distinct world in a way that felt significant without hampering the narrative’s perpetual momentum.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
I continue to find myself really engaged by the geography and the people/buildings/etc. that fill this world, and the sheer potential they have in capturing and reflecting all the best parts of the story while reminding us of the real (read more intense, unnerving) context and layers behind this mostly silly tale of robot racers. This issue, especially, helped not only give more power to the book’s various interests and twists and turns but also give every angle and perspective real power and to unite tiny details and heartbreaking events under the same core influence. The end result is a world that’s not only truly alive, but one that continues to find new ways to open up and shock and delight us as readers.
Without ruining the big reveal at the end of this issue, I see issue #5 going a couple different ways. That’s either a bit of a depressing pit stop, where lots of bad things and hard decisions are made, or more madcap racing as our team tries to make it out the Smogzone. Either path or rate of speed will likely be just as compelling, as Petrol Head is at a point now where we can cruise along and get something significant with every new speed bump or mountain pass to race by. May the checkered flag never raise and the track remain ever wide and open.
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