Protectors Inc. is the story of a group of Protectors, people with superpowers who work for the common good (?) and the agency that supports them. That agency is a global conglomerate loaded with lots of power and money. Protectors Inc. is written by J. Michael Straczynski and the line art is created by Gordon Purcell. In the first two issues, we have been introduced to the history of the Protectors as told through Detective John Riley's viewpoint. We have seen some of the Protectors in the telling of the story and in person as the last issue brought an interesting character called the Huntsman face to face with Riley. The Huntsman makes a return visit in issue three, but he has a much different role than in the previous issue. Here we see a more human, less super side of him to put it mildly.  We have also been made a witness to some disappearances that seem suspicious but appear to have little connection with one another. Or do they? Only time (and more issues) will tell.

This story released through Image as a part of the Joe's Comics re-launch, has been a great gem of a find for me (and hopefully others), well written by Straczynski and superbly drawn by Gordon Purcell with absolute perfect coloring rendered by Michael Atiyeh. I have been thoroughly entertained with the first two issues. Issue three has not disappointed either as the tone and the story itself is beginning to get more serious and some pieces are starting to fall into place a little bit.

What I like about the writing in issue three is that Straczynski is beginning to turn this into an almost noir type hardboiled detective drama, but with no noir. The coloring is still bright and oozes with a feel of a golden age tale with stone jawed features and bold looks on the characters. The reader is beginning to find themselves immersed in a mystery story however, with super powered people just a small part of an overall drama of power, greed, and (maybe) some bad guys. The fact that there are no super-powered bad guys has been baffling as usually good guys can't live without the other. It is in that realization though, that makes this story so interesting. We know that there must be some bad folks out there. How could there not be?

Straczynski has played this perfectly by giving the reader slight teases as we follow the investigations and thoughts of Detective Riley. It has been a fun ride that promises to have some big reveals coming in the future. As for right now however, we are left with more questions than answers and that is fine by me as I am excited to see where we go to next. It's promising to be one hell of a ride.

Score: 4/5

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski Artist: Gordon Purcell Publisher: Image/ Joe's Comics Price $2.99 Release Date: 1/15/14