How can the powers combine if the Planeteers are still at each other’s throats? Your Major Spoilers review of Captain Planet and the Planeteers #3 from Dynamite Entertainment awaits!

CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS #3

Writer: David Pepose
Artist: Eman Casallos
Colorist: Jorge Sutil
Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Editor: Joe Rybandt
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 13, 2025

Previously in Captain Planet and the Planeteers: The Planeteers are finally assembled, but the odds against them and the ultimate survival of the Earth are steep. The untested team now faces the collective might of mega-powerful villains Duke Nukem, Doctor Blight, and M.A.L. Without the help of a depleted Captain Planet, the inexperienced eco-warriors must band together as never before to have any hope of standing against them!

THE POWER IS THEIRS

Captain Planet and the Planeteers #3 opens on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, where an attack by the nefarious Duke Nukem (but not THAT Duke Nukem) has left the waters streaked with crude oil, and a phone call from the equally awful Lucien Plunder provides another opportunity for lootin’ and pollutin’. In the Big Apple, the Planeteers have managed to call upon the five elements to summon Captain Planet, but are dismayed to find that their own rings are left powerless while the big guy is in play. He is able to protect them, but the sheer scale of Earth’s pollution means he can’t hold it together for long. The Planeteers escape through the sewers in search of some sort of edge, hitting on the idea of finding New York’s local genius climatologist, Doctor Barbara Blight.

Doctor. Blight.

Good. That’ll work.

HER NAME IS DOCTOR BLIGHT

The interactions between Planeteers make for the most entertaining parts of this issue for me, as we are treated to Wheeler and Linka flirting, Kwame awkwardly taking the mantle of leadership, and an exuberant Gi hacking her way into trouble (and stealing her way out). It’s also the most frustrating part, as Wheeler keeps harshing the team’s mellow with his nonsense. It’s difficult to accept his hard-headedness in the face of clear evidence that the team needs to stay together, and the understanding that his flame-ring is necessary to make the Captain appear. What’s worse, though, is that the combination of the art and production makes him look thirty-five (and remarkably like Guy Gardner). There are a few such visual hiccups in the issue for me, including Captain Planet’s beard still looking wrong, but the sequence wherein the Planeteers combine their elements to wipe out the hurricane of radioactivity from Nukem is really excellent.

BOTTOM LINE: A TOUGH MIX

Long story short, the most difficult part of Captain Planet and the Planeteers #3 comes in the dissonance between the gritty, realistic tone and the fanciful punny names, which also comes out in the visuals of a couple of the characters, leaving us with an above-average 3 out of 5 stars overall. I’m enjoying the characterizations of the Planeteers, most of which are whole cloth creations of this team, and I still feel like there’s a lot of potential here if they can shake out some of these pain points (and maybe have someone kick Wheeler in the head.)

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