I’m not going to lie; Medic hasn’t been my favorite of the Double Take series. I don’t dislike it, but it seemed like a series that relied heavily on the other books to plug-in the pieces. Until now.
Just the opening scene got my attention in a big way. You’ll have to read Slab to see how it ties into the overall world, but it’s a big story reveal.
You know that invisible person I mentioned in a few of the books? Yeah… we see them putting on clothes. I mean they’re still invisible so don’t get excited. The importance of this isn’t that they’re revealed, but rather… who’s clothes they put on. I’m not going to spoil that for you because it play heavily into other titles we've read.
The rest of the issue is also important in that we head down to the morgue that is now a huge blood bath from the results of Honor #2 & 3. We also see a scene overlap which syncs the timeline. That is something I really like. The reason being that all of these books are not taking place at the same time, but rather the same general time. Granted you would need to take notes to really see the entire timeline, but when dialogue overlaps like that it’s a cue that lets you know the order of events. There are two other reveals, one explains how the virus transfers and some insight into who created it and why. The story does a fine job of explaining it all so I’ll save myself time from revealing anything further. Also the dude with the missing toes… he’s still there and still funny!
With these third issues the seemingly random narration from characters is explained. They’re real stories from writers that Double Take has hired. They’re there to add to the realism and while I didn’t 100% understand the point of it previously, it did humanize the characters. I do wish that this was revealed to the reader sooner, but knowing now does change my perspective on everything. I enjoyed the story in this issue in particular and because of that I was also able to enjoy the art and let it tell me more of the story than the dialogue. When I think about it, the art is doing a lot of work and if the dialogue and narration just followed it along, we would have so much pointless and redundant dialogue that it would be unbearable. That’s why I wish they revealed it sooner, because it would have taught the reader how to read their books that much sooner.
The art for Medic was some of the best from the third issues. It had a sharper and cleaner look, but still fit in with the rest of the world. Much like with Honor, the art team is going for a unified look and not a break out individual style for the most part. What sets this series apart though is the coloring. The two colorists also keep a unified look, but they give the issue a vibrant look that really stood out.
I really enjoyed this issue. I didn’t think it would end up being so high on my list, but with the reveals and the twists that it added to the universe, it’s hard not to like it. That and I really want to see how long the guy with his toes can go before he loses them. If you were on the fence about this series, you should rest assured. Clearly Double Take is carefully planning each series to have its own ups and downs and by doing so each series shines brighter at different moments.
Score: 4/5
Medic #3 – “Graveyard Shift” Story: Bill Jemas Script: Brian Finkelstein, Bobby Stoddard, Bill Jemas Layouts: Stan Chou Pencils: Stan Chou, Andres Ponce Colorists: Leonardo Paciarotti, Marta Martinez Publisher: Double Take Comics Price: $2.50 Release Date: 2/24/16 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital