ALIAS: RED BAND #3 (MARVEL COMICS)

Jessica Jones is not having a good day.

Jones’ neighbors next to her office were brutally murdered. Only a postcard with markings provided any clues. This also drew attention from a another vested party. Her partnership with Typhoid Mary has been rocky to say the least. After tracking down “The Postcard King”, things have taken another turn. The message on the card triggers something in Mary that Jessica might not be able to stop.

ALIAS: RED BAND #3 by Sam Humphries, Geraldo Borges, Arthur Hesli, & Cory Petit (MARVEL COMICS) continues its extreem murder investigation.

Let’s take a look at what transpires now.

ALIAS: RED BAND #3 by Sam Humphries, Geraldo Borges, Arthur Hesli, & Cory Petit (MARVEL COMICS)

*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***

Humphries implodes the forced partnership early in the chapter. The writing shows Mary manipulated into combat. Jones’ defenses are only doing so much. A strike by a typewriter to the face snaps Mary out of the King’s control. This causes Jessica to take drastic measures. Readers watch as she forces the King’s hand. It result in another variable happening. Mary’s handling of the King raises many questions. The first being was it her call or other forces at hand to kill their only lead?

Readers watch as the pair breaks down their progress or lack their of. The banter shows both pushing the others’ buttons. It also offers up a new lead. Humphries throws in a quick time jump to break pacing up. This plays into Jessica’s strong willed nature. Once events head back to the case, there are a few grizzly discoveries made. This moves events into a surprising final pages. The last page will cause some discussion as the case sinks further away from both lead’s comfort zones. An interesting take never the less.

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Borges & Hesli bring the action right from the start. The fill page shot of Jones throwing Mary kicks off their skirmish. This leads into some brutal, gritty images. Borges knows how to maximize these moments perfectly. The “typewriter” spot is given a half page to work around. Events fall like dominos with the twists thrown into this sequence. Hesli’s coloring allows for Mary to steal back the stage going into the conflict’s final stages.

The full page image of Jessica shopping slows the pace down to let the moment sink in. Panel structure helps to add gravity to the partnership’s latest bump in the road. The art also doves into the friction of personalities. This leads into a resolution of sorts to move the case forward. Courtroom drama plays out as one might expect. This moves the story into the closing moments. Jessica stumbles across a gruesome discovery via full page. It is a lot to process before getting sidetracked. This leads into the shocking final page. Knowing how this case began, the full page image scrambles the preconceived notions at this midway point. Strong work as always from Borges.

FINAL GRADE: 8.4

Jones’ latest case takes a drastic turn as clues start coming into focus. Humphries’ writing challenges Jones at a high level. Borges leans into his strengths of brooding action to elevate certain scenes even higher than expected. This is definitely not your typical Jessica Jones story by any means.

Let me know your thoughts on Alias: Red Band #3 in the comments below. Thanks for reading!