Writer: Ed Brisson

Art: Rogê Antônio, Veronica Gandini, Stephen Segovia, Juan Jose Ryp, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Cory Petit

Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 16th, 2019

A seemingly relentless fungus has overrun the New York City, and it’s going to take every hero to quell its destructive path in this week’s all-new CONTAGION #3 by Ed Brisson. This fungus has commandeered heroes and citizens alike, seeping them of their life force, seizing their knowledge and powers. As of now, neither science nor magic can stop it! Let’s dive in to see if our heroes are any closer to stopping this outbreak.

Readers immediately lunge into the issue with the reveal that the fungus had circulated rapidly across the McCarthy Medical Institute where Anthony went at the end of the last issue. The entire infirmary appears to be infected, the streets of New York are getting overrun, some of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have fallen to this contagion, and readers are no closer to discovering an antidote than they were in issue one. And that my dear readers is my problem with the comic and series to date.

One of the heftiest complaints this critic has with comic books, especially at the other big company that will remain nameless, is when writers proceed to have the heroes lose time and again backing themselves into a corner that is impossible to escape. Finally, with half of the last issue to go, magically everyone is saved. This reviewer absolutely cannot stand that type of storytelling. Readers need to see evidence, explanation, and clues along the way expressing possible solutions. Frequent small victories need to be met and a direction for success needs to be established. Currently, that is what Brisson is lacking throughout the narrative to date. Where is the story going? Where exactly did this contagion come from? How will it be eradicated? What are the rules pertaining to this infection? There are just too many questions still vacant for readers to get resolved, especially being over halfway done with the series.

Fans, we are three issues in and have no idea about this fungus’s origin (other than it came from Kun-Lun), what exactly it’s capable of, and how to stop it. The most information gained about this outbreak is that it spreads through skin-to-skin contact and it gains the abilities of whoever it touches. This reviewer was really hoping to enjoy this story so much more than he has been, however, the series appears to just be repeating and imitating the exact information each week while only introducing new characters to the landscape. But, what have we really learned? What progress has been made?

At one point, Ben Grimm comes up with an idea with Tony Stark that seems would work to save the day and possibly end the story. However, Tony would rather take his time and monitor the situation while creating a time table before something drastic needs to happen to remedy this contagion. This reviewer completely understands that if Tony uses Ben’s idea, this narrative is presumably over. However, why would Brisson introduce the suggestion to only use it two issues later anyway? This critic is truly sorry but it appears as though nothing has changed within these past three issues and the series seems stuck in the mud.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This reviewer left the comic expecting so much more from this story. This issue, as well as the narrative to date, appears to be underdeveloped, lacking direction, poorly paced, and incomplete. This critic genuinely wants to love this series. On the outside, it seems to have everything any reader would want from a comic. However, the past two issues have been lacking in action, suspense, and information. If you’ve been following along to date, it’s hard to back out now seeing as though fans would be over halfway in this series. However, if you haven’t started reading it yet, this critic would advise you to wait for the trade if you’re really intrigued by the narrative.

6.8/10