Lovey is shot down, but before Porthos and Athos can get to him, they find themselves in yet another biome with more odd creatures. Why is this world so strange? Find out in Man’s Best #3 from BOOM! Studios.
MAN’S BEST #3
Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote
Artist: Jesse Lonergan
Colorist: Jesse Lonergan
Letterer: Jeff Powell
Editor: Eric Harburn
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 22, 2024
Previously in Man’s Best: Athos tries to keep the team functioning, but Porthos is more focused on trying to track Doc and the Captain. Lovey’s rocket is hit by a Klanger before Porthos realizes what is happening and raises her shield. They escape a fight, but Lovey is getting tired of Porthos not listening to orders. They follow Doc’s scent, and it leads them to where lots of Klangers are bowing down to a giant eye. Porthos rushes in and soon they are surrounded. Athos finds a small doorway and orders them through. And suddenly they find themselves in a completely different place.
MORE QUESTIONS AND PERHAPS AN ANSWER
Man’s Best #3 opens right after Lovey was shot down by one of the tiny creatures they found. Athos does not have time to check if he is unconscious or if he is dead before the creatures open fire. Porthos raises her shield just in time, but the power of the blast knocks her and Athos back and into the water. By the time they get out, they have been swept some distance away to an area covered by ice.
Porthos wants to go back and rescue Lovey. Athos can’t seem to make her understand that he might be gone. But Porthos is sure he’s okay. They start heading back, but then Porthos finds the kidnappers’ scent and Athos verifies it. The trail leads into a nearby cave. Athos wants to follow it. If Doc is there, she can help save Lovey. But Porthos worries that she was wrong the last time she followed the scent trail, and she is still worried about Lovey.
Light starts bouncing among the tips of the ice spires around them. Athos has just enough time to warn Porthos before the beam strikes her shield. Both of their special suits are gone. Porthos’ prosthetic leg is gone, but her regular leg is back, and the two of them are in a new and even stranger place. A voice welcomes the animals to their minds.
The valley they are in is full of sentient ice. Their bodies are unconscious so the ice can communicate with them. In their minds, the ice has taken on humanoid forms although the heads are various food items. The food is projections from the minds of the Earth animals. But no matter, they have information to share. The world they are on is a sort of prison.
The ice creatures believe the planet is a sort of traveling zoo which goes around collecting fragments of other worlds and is headed somewhere with them. The ice creatures have learned of similar stories of capture from every mind they have touched. There are even stories that have been passed down through generations.
As the ice shares its memories, Porthos catches a glimpse of another creature painting something that looks like the giant eye they saw. She mentions this, and the ice creatures ask to probe her memories further. The robots, they saw, are not the first beings to worship the entity as a god. But the animals are the first species that have been able to cross connecting gates between biomes.
Athos also shares that something was taken from their ship, something which might be dangerous, along with Doc. She also asks about Lovey, and they discover that the tiny creatures have him and seem to be healing him. But no, the Tinies feed of negative thoughts and are slowly draining Lovey. They release Porthos and Athos so they can wake up and help him.
Their plan mostly works. Athos is able to sneak up to Lovey and awaken him, but Porthos does not keep her distance. The Tinies dismantle and take Athos’ suit. In turn, Porthos uses her shield to block the Tinies, then turns on them, urging Athos and Lovey to run and follow the plan.
A FEAST FOR THE EYES
Porthos is such a golden retriever in Man’s Best #3. The art reflects her energy which emphasizes how impetuous she is. Athos despairs that she does not keep to a set plan, but in looking at her, we can see that is not the whole story. Porthos thinks quickly and may change her mind at a moment’s notice. But when she makes a decision, she sticks to it with an optimistic determination. No matter how badly Athos feels, Porthos is always her cheerleader, finding things that work well and encouraging her on their next steps.
Things get trippy when they interact with the sentient ice, and I think the reader just needs to go with the flow and enjoy it. Not only do these beings appear as humans with food heads, but they are full of little details that are a visual delight. The leader is in a sort of military uniform and its head is a large cheeseburger. A military hat floats above the burger. It has a bird (also with a floating hat) on its shoulder and, even more inexplicably, it has a fish (or perhaps a lizard) in its pocket.
BOTTOM LINE: THINKING ON THEIR PAWS
Man’s Best #3 seems less like stream of consciousness and starts to pull together a coherent story about the world the companion animals are now on. Who are these strange zookeepers, and what do they want with Doc?
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Man's Best #3
Athos and Porthos are still on Doc’s trail, but first must rescue Lovey.
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Writing7
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Art8
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Coloring8
By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.