By Cat Wyatt

Issue #3 of Freelance is back; with the team, we’ve been steadily learning about and growing fond of. Lance is the backbone of the team, he’s also the moral center, even if the rest of them may be less than willing to admit that bit. He’s also more or less the focus, being that he’s superhuman (literally) and capable of handling situations most humans wouldn’t survive. John is the ex-con bad boy, with a catch; he’s pretty sweet on Lance (feel free to ship that pairing). And finally, there’s Tasha, the techie and sassy one of the group. Together they take on missions, doing their best to keep the world safe.

When we last saw our team, they were tracking down Apollyon and attempting to rescue as many people from the opened rift as possible. Granted, Lance is doing the heavy lifting with the rescue (it makes the most sense), with Tasha assisting (she’s much more physically capable than the tech nerd stereotype – I love it). Meanwhile, John is attempting to secure the device and villains behind everything. It goes without saying that shit has officially hit the fan.

Lance’s rescue show didn’t go completely unnoticed, unfortunately. Apollyon noticed his efforts, and seems to think she knows who/what he is (not certain which one is more accurate, but if I had to guess I’d say she knows what he is, as opposed to actually recognizing him). Regardless, the end result is more or less the same; she wants her team (which significantly outnumbers the Freelance team) to capture Lance and bring him with them (for reasons I can only guess at).

Before you settle in and start thinking that’s all the drama that can be dished out for one issue, let me tell you there’s quite a bit more. Tasha recognized the woman next to Apollyon as Dr. Ila Kolchak. And there’s a very very good reason she was able to recognize her on sight…she’s her mother. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it would be for somebody to realize their mother was working with the enemy, especially when the stakes are so high. I don’t envy Tasha’s position right now. Though hopefully her insight will help them solve the case before more lives are lost.

Remember when I said that Apollyon’s med were sent out to capture Lance? Well I should have probably mentioned how poorly John took to that idea. I mean, he’s basically completely smitten with Lance, and there’s no way in hell he’d let any harm come to him. Knowing a team of armed enemies were heading his way to kidnap him? Well…let’s just say that his emotions got the best of him, and it ultimately left him vulnerable.

It was a vulnerability which Apollyon took advantage of (as any good antagonist would do). In a matter of seconds John went from defending Lance to becoming the bait to force Lance to follow the enemy. Not good.

I’m not going to lie, while I knew that John was going to be bait, I sort of didn’t think he’d actually get hurt (read: tortured) in the time he was with Apollyon. Which I guess is rather naive of me. I certainly didn’t think a device capable of creating rifts would simultaneously be capable of causing significant pain (while delivering minimal damage)…though it does make sense, in a morbid way.

I feel bad for the pain John is in, though his determination shines through and does a wonderful job of showing John at his best; unwillingly to betray his friends and comrades, stubborn to the bone, and completely dedicated to Lance. Likewise I suspect John’s kidnapping helped to force Lance to realize the depth of his feelings, something I think he’s been hiding from - which I sincerely do understand, one has to find themselves before they can be open to relationships.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s anxious to see how everything pans out. I have a feeling the conclusion is approaching, but I’ve been surprised before, so you never know. I’m enjoying the mixture of action and drama (the emotional parts to the series) that this team brings to the forefront. It’s not something I would have expected enjoying, but it works oddly well in this case.

I love the almost rough quality to the artwork, and while there weren’t that many rifts shown this issue, I did enjoy what I got to see. I still adore Apollyon’s character design, and appreciate the way the fights have been drawn in this issue (accurately but not with excessive graphic detail).

Score: 4/5

Freelance #3
Publisher: Chapterhouse