Writers: Dan Watters & Ram V
Artist: Matthew Roberts
Colorist: Trish Mulvihill
Letterer: DC Hopkins
Cover Artists: Matthew Roberts & Dave Stewart; Julian
Totino-Tedesco; Dani & Brad Simpson; Anwita Citriya; David Talaski
Publisher: Image
Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 26, 2024
Darwin Collier tried to kill Kate Marsden. Haunted by her
brush with death, the journalist pursued the former Marine from her home in the
United States to a remote village in Peru. Kate reports on what she can prove.
So when fishermen pull drowning victims from the Amazon, Kate dismisses talk of
a local legend. Likewise, she ignores the carved wooden images of the Creature
in a vendor's stall. But then the Creature saves her from drowning. When Kate ventures
into the jungle to apprehend Collier, the Creature saves her again. Or at
least, so she remembers. What drives Kate and those involved in her quest? Let's
grab our knives and rifles, leap into Universal Monsters: Creature From The
Black Lagoon Lives #3, and find out!
Story
Collier victimized Kate. He tried to drown her in the Hudson
River. She told herself she wanted justice. But the stark reality of life in
the jungle leaves its mark on her. Now, she doesn't care about dragging Collier
back to the United States and testifying against him in court. She just wants
to kill him. The Creature may have helped her. But in Universal Monsters:
Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3, Kate's through being a victim. She's
willing to become a monster to kill another. If the Creature can help her
accomplish that, all the better!
The Creature victimized Dr Edwin Thompson. One swipe of its
claws left Edwin disfigured. For thirty years, he’s endured people’s reactions
to his appearance. The severed nerves in Edwin's face impinge on his sleep. So
he fled civilization and took up the cause of his friend Dr Carl Maia. But if
his mission is to understand how life evolved from the ocean to land, why is he
fixated on this Creature?
Civilization victimized Christiano’s family. When they fell
on the wrong side of the political jungle, his family fled the We’re Right And
The Other Party Is Wrong crowd to live with the indigenous people of Peru. Like
the fires that rise when loggers cut down trees and burn foliage to create
grazing land, malaria burned through Christiano in his youth. He may not have a
wooden idol of the Creature in his room at Dr Edwin Thompson's house, but he revels
in the mysterious nature of the jungle and reveres the Creature as its guardian
spirit.
Civilization victimized Darwin Collier. The Marine Corps
unleashed an unquenchable thirst for violence. When they threw him out, he
couldn’t adjust to civilian life. After Collier fled the United States to share
his Marine Corps skills with others, his drug trafficking employers abandoned
him when his hunger for death resurfaced. As he hides from civilization and
those who wish to kill him, Collier finds a new purpose in Universal Monsters:
Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3.
Art
Kate swims in the river near Edwin's home. She doesn't know
how much of what she's seen is real or imagined. The ripples in the water evoke
the Creature's green, scaly hide. Yet the netting Christiano laid on the ground
galvanizes her. She slices off a portion and hurls it onto Edwin’s desk. That
evening, as Kate sits on the roof and watches the flames leaping above the trees,
Christiano’s gaze drifts to her cigarette and the fire ravaging the packed tobacco.
As Kate and Christiano share their near-death experiences, faces dance with
skulls in the raging flames.
Trish Mulvihill lavishes a loaded palette on Matthew
Roberts' relatable characters, drama-fueled encounters, and the explosive
finale in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3. Light
spears the muggy jungle, casting leafy shadows upon Kate’s head and shoulders.
The vibrant green forest contrasts with the calming beige and tan in Edwin’s
home. Still, he tames the Creature by sketching it in black and white. The
yellow and orange fires reflect off rivers and streams while orange and mauve
spirits invade the purple skies.
DC Hopkins carves uppercase black letters into white
dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The font grows bold for
intonation, swells for elevated voices, and never shrinks. Sound effects help
us hear a knife thrust and a gunshot. Yet an enlarged final sentence may shock
readers most in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #3. Thanks
to Universal Studios, Skybound, and Image Comics for providing a copy for
review.
Final Thoughts
In Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives
#3, Dan Watters and Ram V pit the people who inhabit nature with those who
violate it to enhance their status in civilization. The jungle of Peru becomes
a battleground between those who burn for revenge and those who seek to become
something more.
Rating 9.8/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
