THE HARBINGER #3 – Review

THE HARBINGER #3, from Valiant Entertainment on December 22nd, 2021, finds Peter Stanchek suiting up to take down The Warning and rescue the psiot, Young Ago. Can he keep himself under control long enough to rescue his friend?

The Details

• Written By: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
• Art By: Robbi Rodriguez
• Colors By: Rico Renzi
• Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
• Cover Art By: Robbi Rodriguez (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: December 22, 2021

Was It Good?

THE HARBINGER #3 is just okay. It’s not terrible and it won’t blow you away. It’s just fine. Let’s talk about what works and what doesn’t.

Focusing on the positives, Stanchek steps onto the world stage with his fancy new Harbinger suit, and we get to see it in full action. The design is a nice upgrade from the previous, and the suit is a pleasant mix of practical construction and a hip/cool design. Next, we get to see Stanchek let loose against The Warning in his attempt to save Young Ago from a terrible fate. The psiot action is intense and it’s nice to see a fully-realized version of Stanchek’s powers only hinted at in the first issue.

The story has a complete beginning, middle, and end with a prologue that (sorta) moves readers past the current conflict to the next obstacle, The Renegade.

The pieces that don’t quite work are two parts story and one part art.

For the story, there’s not much meat to this issue. Stanchek flies in, beats The Warning with all the finesse of Conan the Barbarian in an antiquities shop, and all is right with the world (almost). This is what readers familiar with Stanchek expected to see in issue #2, and in effect, there’s no clear reason why Stanchek didn’t win just as easily in issue #2. What was it? Was he suffering from self-doubt? Was he too tired from eating too many carbs? It feels like the creators took one conflict and needlessly stretched it over two issues without any credible reason.

Second, the prologue is mysteriously dangling the idea of a second Peter Stanchek without any rhyme, reason, or sense of threat beyond the character having a weathered, mean face. You get the creators are trying to foreshadow Renegade as the big threat, but they’ve not done anything to establish who or what Renegade truly is and why he’s a threat other than he has a high power level. Simply existing and making ominous faces isn’t enough. If you don’t establish a motivation are any action beyond simply showing up, there’s not much to do with Renegade but say “okay, scary man in the corner, can I help you with something?” There’s nothing wrong with creating a metatextual villain, but at some point, the villain has to actually do something villainous.

The third down point, albeit a minor one, is the same criticism raised in the review of issue #2. The art varies from good to great, but Renzi went whole hog with an absurd amount of purple on nearly every page. The excessive purples dull the few moments of pop and diffuse the energy of some fairly large action set pieces. It’s everywhere. Even The Warning, an eclectic collection of government-sanctioned thugs, are all wearing an inordinate amount of purple. It seems like a strange thing to critique, but once you notice it, there’s purple everywhere and it’s off-putting.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

To find out how the creators have built up to the reveal of the snazzy new costume, read out THE HARBINGER #2 review first.

We begin where issue #2 left off with Peter Stanchek’s request to have Cici make him a disguise to go after The Warning. Issue #3 starts with a “suit up” montage that’s as effective as it is short.

Stanchek flies above the cityscape and uses his senses to locate Young Ago for rescue. When he picks up the trail, he hears The Warning about to commence a procedure that will strip Ago of his powers, killing him in the process. Stanchek dives in (and through) The Warning’s skyscraper headquarters, ripping the top off the building in the process. He easily disables three of the five Warning members, psionically ripping their power-giving implants from their bodies.

We conclude the issue with a revelation about Stanchek’s lost memories, a Lois and Clark moment, and a visit from the scary man in the corner with a vague threat.

Final Thoughts

THE HARBINGER #3 gives readers some “ooh, that’s cool” moments and easily ends the current conflict with The Warning without even breaking a sweat, significantly deflating the threat level or stakes. It’s clear the creators are setting up The Renegade to be the bigger bad villain, but there’s not much development after three issues to feel any sense of foreboding about what Renegade is after or why. If the creators want to get readers invested, the threat needs to be established, credible, and greater than our hero. So far, that hasn’t happened, making it a struggle to find a compelling reason to come back for more.

Score: 6.5/10

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