The Resistance: Uprising #3

The Resistance: Uprising #3

AWA Upshot Studios 2021

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by C.P. Smith

Coloured by Snakebite Cortez

Lettered by Sal Cipriano

Acclaimed writer J. Michael Straczynski returns the prescient, ambitious world of The Resistance! In the wake of the assassination of their leader, the Resistance is in disarray, disconnected from each other and hunted by authorities around the world – including an army of "reborns" recruited by the American government. To avert decimation at the hands of a fascistic government crackdown, the Resistance must discover the ace up their sleeve, and then the key to unlocking it.

I love this series and I’m sure my reasons differ from others in some aspect and lineup in others but no matter how you see this you are going to love this book. This is so intelligently written and it encompasses so many different aspects of the same coin so that you’d think that the coin was a hexagon in appearance. Straczynski manages to stuff so many angles into this and yet nothing feels rushed or trite, it all serves a purpose and it engages the reader in ways that make you see the logic and correlation to real life in what we see. Granted if real life contained supers that is.

I cannot get over how much I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is perfectly presented. The character development is phenomenal thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story with the twists & turns along the way we cannot help but feel like we belong in this story.

I’m immensely enjoying how we see this being structured and how the layers within continue to grow, evolve, strengthen and emerge anew depending on how we see the encounters. The best bits come within the layers and how this affect the main arc or if it just focuses on the characters it creates this extra depth and complexity in the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved perfectly.

The interiors here are mindbogglingly brilliant to see. The linework is exquisitely laid down and how the varying weights and techniques that we see being utilised to create this level of quality in the detail work is astounding. I mean the faces, facial expressions alone are sublime and intense and when you add in the body language it takes the characterisation to new heights. That we see backgrounds is nice but we could, should, see more of them as they not only enhance the moments but help within the composition of the panels with the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is utterly brilliant to see as well. How the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work demonstrates a master colourists eye for colour. It adds depth and dimension to the work that really has a major impact on how we see the story.

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I am gobsmacked by just how good this book is. From the emerge of the Reborn and how a new wave is being awoken and the ripple affect this causes can be seen from the highest reaches to the lowest of lows is magnificently done. Whether you are in favour of them or fear them you will be represented in this book because what Straczynski does is fill this will opinions and adds fuel to the fire in ways that we should’ve seen coming. I cannot wait to see how this continues to play out and who will end up recruiting the Reborn’s to fight the good fight, with or against the government as the case may be. You aren’t going to find an all around better put together book than this.