Savage #3 Review: Story Part 1

 

 

Writer Max Bemis enriches each issue of Savage with witty wordplay and pop culture references. He enlarges Kevin's world with backstory, and invents new organizations that threaten the world. Each issue of his series is packed with action, plot, reflection, dialogue, and is anything but a five-minute read. 

 

Every time I reread this comic, I discover something new. Occasionally, I discover I've missed something basic to my understanding of the story. While Max Bemis planted numerous clues in previous issues, somehow I missed out on the fact that Henry is not just Kevin's life coach and brand manager, but also his older brother. Somehow!

 

Hopefully by now you've had a chance to read Savage #3, and weigh my earlier posts against your own reactions. For this post, I have a few thoughts I'd like to share. But first, if you have not yet read Savage #3, I will warn you that I include a potential spoiler as my final point. I'll post another warning at that point, in case you wish to read up until then.

 

First off, Savage #3 offered explosive action, as Project Bizarre puts its ultimate plans into operation. Yet Kevin's idle on a private island reminds me of Savage #1, when Kevin says that his mind is always active, always working. How could Kevin think that he could just check out on his own exclusive island and be satisfied? 

 

Given his upbringing, Kevin clearly needs to feel as if he's just hanging onto life by his fingertips.

 

 

Secondly, in Savage #2 Mae revealed that she knows about her adoptive father's intended plans for worldwide domination. When Professor Nealon puts those into effect in Savage #3, the mild mannered laboratory researcher turns badass hero.

 

 

Like Kevin, Mae has suffered heartbreak and tragedy. I look forward to seeing what Mae does--and how she might even steal the show--in the climactic final issue of Savage.

Warning: Potential Spoiler Ahead. If you have not read Savage #3 yet, you may wish to save this last portion for later.

 

Lastly, like billionaire Troy Whitaker in Valiant's current X-O Manowar series, Kevin's brother Henry believes that power is an end in itself, and influencing the media is the means of channeling that power. As if we needed it, we get confirmation in Savage #3 that Henry Sauvage will do anything to hold onto that power. 

 

 

Like Mr. Tull, Rampage, and Toyo Harada, money and power have corrupted both Henry Sauvage and Professor Nealon. While Mae seems to have escaped its influence, how about our man Kevin? 

 

What do you think?

 

Dragon Dave