A most cunning plan!
Creative Staff:
Story: Anthony Del Col
Art: Werther Dell’Edera
Colors: Stefano Simeone
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
The team’s plan has been set into motion – but will they get caught in their own trap? The three teen detectives must keep up their appearances as criminals – and also stay alive! – while undercover with a band of thieves dead-set on pulling a major heist in of one of the most heavily-guarded places in Bayport!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With each installment I find myself surprised by how invested in everything I am with it considering my own past with the two characters. Having spent formative years as a youth that read heavily by reading a range of books from both properties meant that I got exposed to the whole mystery and often murder aspect of things regularly and that shaped how I enjoyed other things from within the genres over the years. With this series giving it a modern and darker edge that fits the times well both in character and technology, it’s like this is begging for some sort of small screen adaptation that will find its voice similar to Riverdale and be the next big thing. Everything that goes around comes around it seems.
The trio certainly found themselves in a bad but planned position when it came to the card game and what they’re trying to get out of it, which is getting closer to Teo and the others for answers. What’s fun and challenging about it is that Frank is kept out of the loop on the plan so that he’s surprised by the play that Nancy and Joe put into motion, something that makes it all come across as much more authentic. It’s not a good or bad thing but what it does let play is the slow boil problems between the brothers come to the surface more as there’s been a general distrust since things went down with their father. The internal dialogue from Joe frames a lot of it well and it’s definitely interesting to see how both of them end up over the course of this issue try to find some common ground once again and remember just how much they like working together like this.
What the trio has to deal with is fun in its own way as well as they have to break into the police station to recover some drives in order to make their in. The brothers have plenty of material to work with here having spent time there over the years and having the plans from a rebuild a few years ago and this is a good experience for bringing them closer together as well. The bulk of the book plays out like a proper heist with the planning, mock attempts, and the final run itself, and all of it has a really great flow to it, especially with the artwork and the narration that just slows down how fast you go through the pages. Soaking up a lot of dialogue and internal material really does the trick in getting us into the character’s heads as they go through it all and then deal with the problems that come out of the blue as well.
In Summary:
While not quite as strong as the first two issues, this installment does a good job of giving us a job for the trio to work through that helps cement that they’re all in it together. The dynamic has its tension, especially early on, but it finds its way well as it progresses and we see things through Joe’s eyes for a lot of it. The heist itself is fun and played well for a place like Bayport and the characters at hand that have more knowledge than a lot of others would. Combine that with the strong artwork and design material we get and the book is just firing on all cylinders, adding more intrigue where it can and moving everything forward slowly but surely.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 12th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
