Elena has gone through a lot and to doubt her ability in anyway just seems stupid, but you have to keep thinking to yourself that her “luck” has to run out soon... right? Maybe not. The issue starts with Elena, Emma, and David all traveling to this hearsay camp, but when arriving to camp turns into getting your tires shot out, the reader becomes very apprehensive as to the motives of this place. The camp is run by Captain Griffin, who honestly I just don’t trust. I get that he has to be cautious, and after tying up Elena and laying down the law, he is nice to her. But I don’t know if he is nice to her for humanity or for his own purposes. He uses people, and it is scary to think that Elena may leave Emma and David behind, but at what cost?
I would love for Elena to go on this mission with others. As you can tell, issue #3 stays in one-time period for all of Elena’s story. We stay in the three months after supposed impact, and you really learn a lot about Elena’s current mind set. Although she has functioned alone for most of the time, I think Elena likes having a “family” around. Ever since meeting Emma and David, she has shown what it is like to be a mother again, and at this point, that may be all she has to live for. That’s what makes Elena’s character so interesting. Although Broken World has this backdrop of a broken world, it is Elena’s world that we follow the most. Frank J. Barbiere does a great job of layering this backdrop with the individual.
Now it is time for Elena to protect the ones she loves, so Griffin gives her a mission. The Children of the Revelation are involved. Surprise, surprise. This group seems to have connected with every other camp or person trying to survive. You have to hand it to their reach out programs, they seem to be effective. Once again, Elena runs into someone from her past. She has a habit of doing that, so I’m starting to realize that I better get used to the idea that we don’t exactly lose characters in this not-so-random shaken Earth. But anyway, this familiar face takes Elena right to the top dog which worries me. I was surprised by how easily Elena made it to the head honcho, Ted Holmes. So again, this has me worried about her real safety. It almost feels like Ted was expected her. Or that he has something else in mind when it comes to dealing with Elena. Did she really just surprise him and catch him off guard? I highly doubt it. A guy like Ted shouldn’t be so easy to catch.
All in all, Broken World has good elements coming together for this post-apocalyptic Earth. But the real star is Elena’s story. I think you could have thrown her in any situation and following her story would still be intriguing. So you have to give credit for creating an awesome main character. My only fear is that with the apocalyptic vibe, many readers may fade out of this comic because of the overdone premise. I am hoping that Elena can carry the readers through this mini-series and make us forget about the setting.
Score: 3/5
Broken World #3 Writer: Frank J. Barbiere Artist: Christopher Peterson Colorist: Marissa Louise Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/5/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital