ANTARCTICA #3, from Image Comics on 9/20/23, pushes Hannah Curtis into a deadly bluff when her allies sneak into the enemy base for medical supplies.
The Details
- Written by: Simon Birks
- Art by: Willi Roberts
- Colors by: Willi Roberts
- Letters by: Lyndon White
- Cover art by: Willi Roberts (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 20, 2023
Is ANTARCTICA #3 Good?
ANTARCTICA #3 leans firmly into the cat-and-mouse tension when Hannah and her friends have no choice but to enter the enemy base to get Campbell’s medical help. Simon Birks plays on the emotional and psychological conflicts that can only come from facing an alter-universe version of yourself and your friends in this tension-filled issue.
When last we left Hannah, Campbell was shot in the chaos, forcing the group to flee into the Antarctic wilderness. The group commandeered a transport vehicle in the hope of reaching civilization. Now, Dr. Curtis uses the high ground and her expert marksmen to disable the transport, forcing Hannah and the group to flee on foot. With few options, the group sneaks into the enemy base to look for medical supplies and a way to get back home.
Emotional confusion is a pretty standard trope in stories involving doppelgangers from alternate realities/timelines/universes, but Birks plays it well here when Hannah faces herself and an alternate version of people she knows. Still, extra work is needed to buy into the notion that a person who looks like your friend is not your friend, so you may or may not find Hannah’s reactions easy to swallow.
What’s great about ANTARCTICA #3? Birks plays up the tension during the cat-and-mouse scenes as far as it will go to keep you on the edge of your seat wondering who will die next. Barring Hannah, anybody is fair game, so you get a true sense of the stakes and consequences of the wrong decision.
What’s not so great about ANTARCTICA #3? While the series is solid overall, this issue underscores two gaps that get harder to ignore as the series continues. First, Hannah and the players jump to (correct) assumptions much too easily in figuring out that they’re working on top of a nexus connecting two realities. Some information is given in this issue about the overlaps discovery and what the governments have done since the discovery, but Hannah’s ability to simply surmise all of it with a single glance is a pill too big to swallow.
Second, no explanation is given as to why an armed force is invading our world, what they want, or why. The credits page has a brief preface explaining that the other world is starved for resources and our world is somehow to blame, but none of that explanation comes through in any of the issues, and no information is given to clarify what to do about it. It’s as if Birks has a much larger story in his head, but only an incomplete version is making it onto the page.
How’s the art? Willi Roberts delivers realistic, grounded, gritty, cinematic visuals to pull readers into the action. Roberts’s figure work is excellent, and the coloring is outstanding, considering the snowy location.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s ANTARCTICA #3 About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our ANTARCTICA #2 review to find out how Campbell got shot.
We begin with Hannah remembering tidbits of talks with her father when she was a little girl, alluding to the events happening around her years later. Now, Hannah helps Campbell and the others escape in a snow transport. Unfortunately, Dr. Campbell orders a sniper strike on the transport in the hopes of forcing Hannah to come to her.
The sniper shot works, and Hannah is forced to lead the team to the enemy base. Along the way, her colleagues explain how the rift between worlds was discovered years ago during the first Antarctic missions. Over time, the governments could pinpoint its location and eventually developed technology to disrupt the rift to prevent visitors from the other side. Eventually, short memories and reduced budgets left the disrupting technology in disrepair.
Now, Hannah bluffs her way into the enemy base by disguising herself as Dr. Curtis. We conclude the issue with conflicting emotions, double-crosses, and a plan in motion.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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ANTARCTICA #3 turns up the cat-and-mouse tension as Hannah is forced into the enemy’s lair. Roberts’s art is dramatic and moody, and Birks’s plot keeps readers on the edge of their seats, but the plot developments may be too confusing for some readers to track.
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