Isom #3 Brings a Strong Conclusion to Its Debut Hero’s First Arc

With the release of Isom #3 comes the conclusion of “The Ill-Advised Arc.” It’s been an interesting story with a lot of twists and turns that’s taken a surprisingly long time to fully release. But now that it’s here, I can share my thoughts on it.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The central plot follows Avery Silman as he finally confronts Darren Fontaino and ends their feud. Probably. In the process, Avery needs to rely on old and new allies, confront his own weakening powers, and other surprising challenges. It’s a rather simple and straightforward plot, but that’s not a bad thing. It allows for there to be really nice character moments, such as Darren making a move on Avery’s parents to really hammer home that he’s a villain, or Avery then talking with his mom about his situation and the state of his powers.

All that being said, there are a lot of questions left unanswered. For example, the mysterious hellions that abducted Sam in Isom #2 vanish as if they were never there. It’s a plot thread that I definitely expect to see picked up elsewhere, likely in the Bloodruth comics. Darren’s actual fate is left rather ambiguous, with Isom taking him down and then leaving. I’m not the biggest fan of this narrative decision, but at the same time I can totally understand it from the perspective of wanting to keep Darren around as a possible character. From a long-term storytelling perspective, it makes a lot of sense, even if it’s kind of strange from a short-term narrative persepctive. Another twist that I wasn’t crazy about is the sudden reveal that Jasmine, the girl that Avery was tasked with saving from Darren, is actually an Except choosing to work with him instead of being a scared damsel in distress who’s been coerced into helping him. My issue isn’t with the twist itself, but more with how it comes completely out of left field. Earlier in the arc, Avery encounters Jasmine and she seems skittish and evasive, implying that she doesn’t want to be there but can’t get out. But then in Isom #3, her reveal as an Except just happens and her personality does a 180. That being said, it could have been an intentional narrative and characterization decision. The intention could have been to portray Jasmine as evasive earlier because she’s hiding something or Avery is projecting his assumptions onto her. If that’s the case, it worked, but I’d need to go back and double check the whole arc. Otherwise, the character inconsistency does bother me a bit.

As a narrative arc, Isom #3 is an interesting conclusion because on the one hand, not a lot changes externally in the world, but the same can’t be said internally. The book ends with Isom aproaching the parents of the girl that Chadran killed in the incident that made him retire. He apologizes to them and vows to make Chadran meet justice. It’s definitely a turning point in Avery’s character as he’s no longer running from the past or fighting for the wrong reasons but fully accepts that he wants to be a hero and protect people again. It’s actually a pretty interesting and well-written concept when you think about it. Isom was a hero, but his failure to save someone was too much for him to bear, so he retired. Then he was reluctantly dragged into a new fight, and he was sloppy, nearly causing those closest to him to get hurt while he was unable to protect them. Once he’s made everything right, he’s ready to go out there and protect the people that can’t protect themselves. He fought Darren because he was asked to, and then Darren made things personal by going after Avery’s family. Now, Isom is prepared to fight because he wants to protect those that can’t protect himself. It’s a great treatment on what it means to be a hero.

Despite Isom #3 being a whopping 144 pages, easily making it the longest Rippaverse comic yet, it’s a surprisingly quick read. I think part of this speed is due to there being more fights. At least, it seemed like there were more fights, and they were longer than in other issues. I definitely enjoyed the action, and I do think it’s some of the best the series has to offer thus far.

Isom #3 also delves into Avery’s backstory, including the source of his powers, at least kind of. He has a conversation with his mom about their Except abilities, and a note references The Great War of Separation #2, which I haven’t actually received in the mail yet so I haven’t been able to read it. It may give more concrete answers than the allusions here, but regardless it’s interesting learning more about Avery’s past. On the topic of character pasts, the Excepts Leprido, a guy with the body of a lizard, and Max Saliant are introduced. Their pasts are alluded to in a brief vignette at J Sulley Ward. I don’t dislike the introduction of new characters and villains, but I can’t deny that this vignette feels a little out of place. It just pops up all of a sudden for a few pages, then suddenly both characters are thrust into the climactic battle with Leprido working as hired muscle for Darren, and Max appearing on Lincoln Eusebius’ behalf to help Isom. Again, I could be missing context from other Rippaverse comics I just haven’t gotten yet, but there’s a part of me that wonders how necessary these little side-vignettes are. I can understand the one showing a young Avery working in a pawn shop since it provides context for the character’s history, but unrelated character vignettes will always confuse me a little bit.

Finally, the last detail I want to touch on is the explicit religiosity of the comic. I wasn’t expecting Isom to quote the Gospel of Matthew and talk about forgiveness, but it was a nice little moment that helps characterize the kind of man that Avery is. It’s refreshing to see these overt religious references, especially as a small facet of the character and not the predominant characteristic since it is such a brief moment.

SPOILERS END

Overall, I enjoyed Isom #3. It was an interesting conclusion to “The Ill-Advised Arc,” especially because of its internal effects on the titular character, and the plot threads that have been established. I look forward to seeing what comes next, and I can confidently say that if you’re a fan of comics, Rippaverse Comics has done it again in releasing another solid book.