Review - Hypernaturals #3

Time and space are nothing for those versed in, well, time and space. One such team exists in the Hypernaturals from BOOM! Studios.

Hypernaturals #3 is written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Tom Derenick and Andres Guinaldo, colors by Stephen Downer and letters by Ed Dukeshire.

At this point, all the Hypernaturals are dead. Well, the old guard is, as a new recruitment effort is underway to replinish the team, finished by a villain very similar to one named Sublime. Sublime just so happens to be in a maximum lockdown prison though, which serves as one of the main settings in this issue.

The current Hypernaturals are visiting Sublime (the first visitors ever apparently) to ask him if he was behind the attacks, what would his next move be. Meanwhile, Clone-45 is stopping by Hypernatural HQ as a "consultant," only to find his role may be a little more involved by the end of the issue.

Holy jumping timelines Batman, there's a lot going on in this issue, but everything settles down. Credit to Abnett and Lanning for crafting such an intricate story that I had to read it twice to fully comprehend everything going on. It's not that their storytelling is confusing or anything...there's just a density of dialogue and storylines crammed in.

Visiting Sublime at the Omni-Max prison is sufficiently creepy. Sublime is given a full-page intro, where he's chained to the floor and foaming at the mouth. If the creative team were going for Silence of the Lambs, it's safe to say they got it.

There's also a sub-plot featuring Half-Shell and Shoal. She feels as if the Hypernaturals mistrust her and struggles to come to terms with her place in the group. Abnett and Lanning do a great job infusing her with character and making her sub-plot one that could be generalized to any new member of the team.

Derenick and Guinaldo split the art duties in this issue and the two of them manage to make it look seamless. Their styles are similar and add a Silver Age feel to the book in a way. The first few pages are fighting, flying and explosions, while the rest of the issue is a little calmer, but it all works. Again, Sublime's full-page introduction is very well done and sets the tone for his character equally as well.

Cosmic comics aren't nearly as pervasive as they used to be, which is a little sad. Thankfully, there are solid books look Hypernaturals to fill that void. The story is really about being human and picking up the pieces after tragedy, something that everyone can relate to. Fortunately, most humans don't have to deal with the likes of Sublime.

Hypernaturals #3 is in stores now with interiors below.