In SAVAGE #3, available from Valiant Entertainment on April 14th, 2021, Kevin “Savage” Sauvage has had enough of modern London and leaves to live his days on a private island. Unfortunately, monsters and evil moguls are not far behind.
The Details
- Written By: Max Bemis
- Art By: Nathan Stockman
- Colors By: Triona Farrell
- Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Art By: Marcus To, Rico Renzi
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: April 14, 2021
Was It Good?
This was one long issue of corny puns and cringe-inducing dad jokes. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll love this book. This reviewer did not enjoy the excessive lean into cheesy humor.
Oddly enough, the art suits the humor and tone in a MAD Magazine kind of way. The characters are just over the line of cartoonish, and Savage’s heroics are nonsensically impossible. You might as well be watching a Looney Tunes cartoon, but again, it matches the writing.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Savage has left London behind using his vast wealth to “retire” to a private island with a small team of hired butlers to handle supplies. The island is stocked with an assortment of wild animals for his hunting pleasure.
After a few weeks, the lack of friendly human contact has become depressing and Savage tries to strike up a friendship with the lead butler, Al. His attempts fail as “being friends” isn’t in the contract. It’s not long before Savage starts to go batty, even going so far as to construct his own Wilson-esque girlfriend out of a volleyball.
Before Savage’s affections cross a line with the volleyball, a giant, tentacled monster suddenly appears on the island. Al and the butler team hastily evacuate in a submarine but leave Savage behind. The monster attacks Savage but quickly drops him in favor of the submarine.
Pause. It reads as ridiculous as it sounds. Implausible plot devices. Nonsensical contrivances. This issue comes off as a mature-ish cartoon ala Family Guy but much less clever.
Meanwhile, Savage’s brother, Henry, sees news reports of monsters suddenly appearing all over the globe. Bemis does his level best to poke fun at the absurdity of the monsters (e.g. a giant hyena spray painting insults in English) by echoing the absurdity through the reports of the newscasters. It’s meant to be a self-aware series of jabs that don’t land as well as intended.
Elsewhere, Mae is still going through the motions as a double agent to cooperate with, and simultaneously thwart the plans of, her evil scientist, adoptive father, Doctor Nealon. When Mae concludes the monsters appearing around the world are Nealon’s doing and learns (via eavesdropping) Nealon will easily sacrifice Mae if the situation calls for it, Mae decides to expose Nealon’s plan to the world.
Back on the island, Savage dives into the water and manages to find a way to blow the monster up using a large crate of explosive detonators stored on the sub. The battle snaps him out of depression and he decides to head back to the world and fight more monsters.
We conclude the issue with an epilogue conversation between Doctor Nealon and a shadowy figure where they plan the next phase of their operation.
How Does It End?
Doctor Nealon had a secret partner this whole time. The only thing better than dinosaur soldiers is dinosaur soldiers with guns. Savage is in for a rude awakening.
Final Thoughts
SAVAGE #3, available from Valiant Entertainment on April 14th, 2021, leans hard into the corny jokes and stops just short of cartoon slapstick. While the art compliments the spirit and tone of the writing, it may not be enough to overcome the dad-joke humor.
Score: 5.5/10
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