John Byrne’s new superhero series has been hit-or-miss for me. I dig the retro dialogue and art but have problems with the predictable and bland story. This issue begins the second half of this miniseries, a half I hope will satisfy me more than the first. Is it good?
Triple Helix #3 (IDW Publishing)
Our heroes, Triple Helix, have just teamed up with Designer, a villain who seems to be helping them despite his violent past. The Designer was only introduced at the very end of last issue and hasn’t gotten much characterization at all.
Rock (a kid who hulks out and turns into a giant rock beast) is just starting to recover as all hell breaks loose and the Monitors (pretty much just a different name for the X-Mens’ Sentinels) have brought the fight to Triple Helix. While we see our heroes battle it out against the Monitors the daughter of the man responsible for setting the Monitors loose chastises her father and cries a whole lot.
I really don’t enjoy the story at all. John Byrne doesn’t have a clear sense of direction for the story, or at least it doesn’t seem like he does. It’s a series of random happenings with no clear end game in mind. For instance, the Monitors finding their way to where Triple Helix was hiding seemed tremendously convenient and just a means for another slugfest. There is way too much going on for anything meaningful to be absorbed or understood; almost all of the dialogue is lost in the midst of all the punching.
To make things even worse, the story is stopped dead in the water with the most useless and forced exposition scene since Littlefinger’s past was revealed in Game of Thrones. The origin story of the Monitors’ controller and his daughter was one that was entirely dispensable and in no way deserved three pages. And the reveal at the end didn’t make things any better, although it tied into the flashback, the payoff was not worth it and ultimately just left the story worse off.
Byrne’s dialogue also felt severely lacking this time around. Instead of sounding retro in a fun way, the book takes itself too seriously and as a result comes off as cheesy and forced. Even the art, which has been one of the series’ highlights so far felt lacking in Triple Helix #3. There were a fair share of unreasonably “derpy” looking faces and a couple mess-ups with the inking; it’s a pity as Byrne is definitely a talented artist.
3.0
- Characters and emotions are decent
- Story is a jumble of confusion and punching
- Dialogue takes itself too seriously and is cheesy
- Derp faces galore!
Triple Helix #3’s only redeeming quality is its characters, who bring some fun moments to the table. Nothing spectacular but their emotions are pretty strong and easy to understand for the most part.
Is it Good?
Nope. Both IDW and John Byrne have created far better works than this, books you should be spending money on and really enjoying. Semi-fun happenings and art without a substantial story just can’t keep me interested in this book any longer.
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