The epic battle between two of nature’s most unlikely enemies rages on in the newest installment of Penguins vs. Possums. This is one crazy ass story that continues to be influenced by the war, action and even a little bit from the Sci-fi genre; all the while maintaining its brand of comedy and tender heartfelt moments.
The third issue begins with details that were unrevealed in the previous issue as Possum spies have found the Penguins old world home in Antarctica. The story continues in San Diego where the last issue left off as the Chosen One and Xiao are about to face off… kind of. The Chosen One has come there to make a deal with Xiao; he’ll give up his life if it will mean peace between their races, but that doesn’t come up until they fight for a bit. What neither of them know is that Zolin is spying on them and after hearing of The Chosen One’s plan, flees back to the Possum home base to plot against his once future brother in-law.
The longer this story continues, the more it reminds me of something else, but in a good way. It’s not quite the Romeo & Juliet formula because there’s no love story here. It’s basically two groups that have been at war for so long they don’t remember why and while a new generation wants to end the war, the elders continue stroke the flames of battle and fear. I know you’re thinking, “is an anthropomorphic story about penguins and possums this deep” and surprisingly, yes it is and because of that I continue to enjoy the writing on this series. While it’s sometimes very deep with its different elements, for the most part I can get in and out on this story rather quickly. I don’t have to remember all of the details because they’re usually recapped within the dialog and that’s good.
The art continues to improve with each issue and for the most part there are marked improvements with this issue. The panel layout and character positioning is much better and doesn’t have some of the awkwardness of the first two issues. Overall the visuals do a much better job of telling the story without relying solely on the dialog to do so.
Really no one is winning this war and that’s true for all wars so why should a fictional one between Penguins and Possums be any different? I really liked where the story left off with this issue as it sets the story up to tread ground that it’s never gone down before and should be very interesting. If you’re not checking this series out and you enjoy hardcore action, violence and crazy deaths… at the hands of animals, then you should definitely check this series out.
Score: 3/5
Writers: Sebastian Kadlecik, John Bring and Lindsay Calhoon
Artist: Sebastian Kadlecik
Gray Tones: John Bring
Publisher: JBSK Comics
Price: $3.00
Website: PenguinsvsPossums.com