John Wick #3 hits the ground running with some of the best action the series has seen so far, some interesting reveals about that fateful day in Mexico and a cliffhanger ending that genuinely peaked my intrest for issue #4. Issue #3 starts to build up a wider narrative, and whilst it still struggles from time to time it does a good job for the most part. Oh, and don’t worry the issue doesn’t sacrifice action for storytelling.
This Review Will Contain Spoilers
Story
John Wick issue #3 written by Greg Pak with artwork from Giovanni Valletta, David Curiel and, Tom Napolitano does a great job of hitting the ground running with issues #2’s fairly lackluster ending. It never gets old seeing these goons run for their live’s screaming “Its Wick!” as he slowly approaches. Only this time he isn’t that slow, speeding towards Buffalo and Billy at breakneck speed, in what I believe is a mustang. Forgive my limited car knowledge. One car flip and a whole lot of bullets later and are resident scumbags are in the clear, right? We all know it’ll take more than that to stop Wick who casually emerges from the smoke, in one of the coolest panels of the comic so far before doing what he does best. The action here is great, although only contained to very small panels. It was a nice touch seeing him take some bullets directly thanks to his infamous bulletproof suit.
At this point, I simply expected Wick to put two bullets in Billy and Buffalo and be done with it. I was pleasantly surprised when that didn’t happen with Billy and Buffalo explaining to Wick what really happened that day in Mexico. Whilst they never wanted to kill Wick, or anyone that day a fourth member of their little group, named Calamity who seems to have a few screws loose, to say the least, opted to try and blow Wick up causing the carnage herself. It was actually really cool seeing the events of Mexico in a different light, and it came as a pretty unexpected reveal. Billy and Buffalo explain they took care of Calamity so it’s done with now, but Wick still has some clearing up of his own to do.
The two manage to escape calling Maria of help. The issue slows right down in its second half, again opting to sit John and Maria down for a chat rather than a firefight. I appreciated the time to relax a little after such an intense opening. Maria once again tries to employ John who refuses her offer. She leaves only to reveal she’s sheltering Billy and Buffalo thanks to them giving her their markers, and the only way for them to be released from them is to…kill John Wick. At first, this honestly made me laugh, giving your marker out to get away from John Wick and them being forced to kill him. Thinking over it a little more, it actually makes sense, espcially on Maria’s part because she knows how dangerous Wick is. Better to let these two try and deal with him then handle him directly. Also, seeing the markers being used was seriously cool.
The issue ends with Billy and Buffalo, going to see an old friend. Calamity, who’s still alive and in a mental hospital, in hopes of finally being able to end John Wick. Issue #3 did a really great job of elevating the issue’s story to match it’s over the top action. Billy and Buffalo still feel like generic lackluster villains but Maria is starting to peak my interests and I’m very excited to see Calamity in action next issue. The action is once again excellent and now the story is ever so slightly beginning to match up to it.
Characters
John really doesn’t do much in this issue other than shoot bad guys. Some would say that’s virtually his whole character anyway, but after seeing him plan out his attacks last issue I would have appreciated a little more tactical thinking from him. Instead, he simply goes in guns blazing which does result in some impressive kills but doesn’t do a whole lot for his character. What little he does speak in his few interactions once again feel faithful to the character.
Billy and Buffalo still feel very weak. Not only do they spend their whole time running from Wick, to be honest, I can’t blame them for that, but then they get Mari and Calamity’s help to bail them out. They haven’t done anything to really impress me or shock me and its a real shame. Hopefully, our new villains will make a better impression in future issues.
We don’t get a lot of Maria and Calamity here but what we do see is very intriguing. Maria is very much a ‘behind the scenes’ sort of villain, pulling the strings rather than doing the dirty work herself, which is something I can totally get behind. It also makes a nice change form the three generic baddies we’ve seen so far. Calamity seems to be totally different from her male counterparts. Shes unhinged and looks to be causing chaos simply for the fun of it. Some very slight Harley Quinn vibes shine through her character which I liked, and shes the first villain in this series to seem like a genuine threat to Wick.
Artwork
Once again, the incredible artwork does a fair bit of heavy lifting. With half of the issue basically being non-stop action it has to look good and thankfully it does. There are some truly stand out panels here which are easily some of the best in the series.
John Wick issue #3 felt like a true continuation of the story compared to issue 2. It took time to develop some characters whilst also introducing new, genuinely interesting ones. Hopefully, the series will continue this trend in issues #4 and #5 and if not well, at least we can expect a pretty epic showdown between John and Calamity.
