78 MPH #3, from Red 5 Comics on June 1st, 2022, ends the story with a final confrontation between the convoy and the mutants. When the truth of Chuen’s motivation comes out, it becomes a bitter pill to swallow.
The Details
- Written By: Mauro Mantella
- Art By: Tomas Aira
- Colors By: Tomas Aira
- Letters By: Tomas Aira
- Cover Art By: German Peralta
- Cover Price: $3.95
- Release Date: June 1, 2022
Was It Good?
78 MPH #3 completes the imaginative post-apocalyptic, sci-fi story with tense action, revelations, and an ending geared to leave the reader with hope. However, getting there feels rushed, and this series would have benefited from an extra issue to flesh out the obvious shortcuts.
When last we left Ches, he learned the truth of his birth and the possibility that he might be the one to save humanity. Now, we see Ches taking a leadership role among the mutants to force a confrontation against Ches and his doomsday cult. The first two issues led up to this moment, and the basic pieces needed to end the finale are all here, but there’s a glaring lack of development to cross the finish line.
The big shortcut and down point is the absence of any threat or danger from the Sun after the confrontation with Chuen. The Sun is racing toward the convoy (literally), yet, everyone takes time to hug, kiss, and makeup without any sense of urgency. The convoy is at a full stop and severely damaged, so everyone who isn’t a mutant or mutant-adjacent should be on the verge of death at any moment, but you never see how the convoy survives the Sun. Looking at the initial premise and setup, everyone except Ches should be dead at the end of this issue, but everyone’s acting as if everything’s okay and they’re all about to live happily ever after. To make this finale feel complete, the story needed to show the consequences of the convoy’s stoppage. Instead, you feel as if several pages are missing.
The second down point is the contrived ending involving the potential hope for Earth. The head mutant falls down a (convenient) hole. The way it happens, where it happens, and what comes as a result is too coincidental to be believed. This convenience coupled with the “happily ever after” moments of the convoy comes across as if this issue needed to be double in size or needed a fourth issue to complete. Technically, the story ends on a hopeful note, but the shortcuts make the ending feel unsatisfying.
Misgivings about the writing aside, this issue has the strongest art of the entire series. The linework is cleaner and sharper, the color shading is more precise, and the sound effect lettering is on point.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Catch up on Ches’s big revelation by reading our 78 MPH #2 review.
We begin with Chuen and his cronies breaking into the steering cabin to outrun Ches and the mutants on their riding beasts. Unfortunately, Chuen’s cronies don’t have any driving experience. Meanwhile, Ches catches up to the convoy and leaps aboard to fight his way through Chuen’s cult.
Spying roadblocks ahead from Ches’s allies, the driver foolishly slams on the brakes, creating a mass pileup and bringing the convoy to a dead spot. Ches confronts Chuen, but Chuen flees out onto the open road, holding a small child he snatched up along the way at knifepoint.
Suddenly, one of the riding beasts sneaks up behind Chuen and ends the standoff. We conclude the issue with another revelation, a trip down the rabbit hole, and possibilities.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)
78 MPH #3 is a good ending to a highly imaginative sci-fi series. The art in this issue is the strongest yet, and the final moments end the series on a hopeful note. However, the story takes a few but large shortcuts from the first page to the last page, leaving you feeling like the creator rushed to get to the end when the story needed several more pages or a whole additional issue to end properly.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com