Comic Book Review: WE3

 WE3

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Frank Quitely

Issues: 3

Published by Vertigo

This is the first time that I've read a comic book with animals as the center of attraction. Yes animals. Mainly a dog, a rabbit, and a cat in a sci-fi action story of friendship and freedom.

Trained to replace human beings as soldiers in warfare, these robotic-ally enhanced animals - who call themselves WE3 - escape the captivity of the US government after hearing that they are going to be killed by the same people who created them. And as they journey across the country, they are hunted down by the army together with other robot controlled animals, with varying reactions as they cross paths.

Grant Morrison puts forth a futuristic concept of animal soldiers: They are armed with suits or robot armor with various weapons like claws, missles etc and computer programmed helmets to help them communicate and understand human beings. They're trained to be ruthless and aggressive against the enemies of state and eliminate any hostile forces, replacing human beings as the ultimate war machines.

You will love the originality of the concept and its plot. Its simple, easy to follow, faced paced, action oriented, with explosions all over the place and I dare say - violent too. Gory. The characterization is awesome, with the animals being very sympathetic. I felt sad in some of the climactic battle scenes and that's a testament to Morrison's writing: he really makes you feel what you really need to feel at that time. 

As for Quitely's art,  its always fantastic and in this comic, he uses the concept from mangas  And in some action scenes, he makes use of one big panel then illustrates detailed action sequences inside small squares within that big panel, which really makes it more cinematic-looking,  like this one:

Fresh, clean, sophisticated, violent and explosive.

I really enjoyed this 3-issue comic book and its refreshing to see animals get their spotlight. Plus, our three superfriends are all too cute which makes more adorable despite their ferocity.   The pro-animal rights theme doesn't hurt either.

P.S - I don't have a pet, but this comic book surely made want to get one - a rabbit.