Early Review: Velocity #3

Carla has a limited amount of time to to get the antidote to her infected friends and teammates. Can she do it, or will something to big, for even her, stop her?

The Good

One thing I appreciate more than anything else, when jumping on a new book, is the opening catch-up page. Everything I've read at Top Cow has this opening page, and it is great for new reader, who may feel lost in the herd. The first thing that caught my eye was the line art by Kenneth Rocafort. It has this wild, sketchy style mixed with some of the more serious, robot based anime's I've seen in the past. The best was to describe the line a would be "controlled chaos." It's one of those few times I'd follow a book just because I loved the art. Because of this, we get some really cool character design. (mainly the robot and ship design) I also quickly started noticing the panel composition on each page. It was non-traditional, but really pushed the pace for the action scenes. If I could describe it in one word: rad-tacular. The panels are, for the most part, four sided, but instead of being rectangular, most times, they are more trapezoid shaped and it really catches your eye. This leads to the second to last page of the story. Without giving it away, the art is great and the panel pacing is superb. I loved the use of silhouette, close-ups, and line work.  

The Bad

The first thing I noticed, when I flipped through the issue, is that the caption boxes are unreadable. I really hope it's just the copy I have. The caption boxes have a light green background and the lettering is in orange. These two colors do not work together, and I understand why the colors were chosen, but I don't want to have to squint and bring the book up to my nose just to read dialogue. Another not-so-great moment for me were two pages in the beginning of the book where the action was flipped horizontally. You literally have to turn the book sideways for two pages to catch the action, and while it may not be annoying for the person who has a physical copy of the book, the people who are reading the issue digitally may find it a bit frustrating. The only other problem I had with the issue is that I really didn't care for the character. I have recently come to love a lot of what Ron Marz and Top Cow has put out, but they usually stick more towards super-heroes based on the world of the occult. This book reads more as a female Quicksilver or Flash. It's a so-so character, based on what I read in this issue.

The Verdict 3/5 - Borrow (Digital Copy) 4/5 Recommended (Physical Copy)

Bad Jumping-on Point
It's the second to last issue in the mini-series, so I can't say this is a must have issue, and it's not a place a new reader needs to jump on to, but this may be a great mini-series to pick up as a whole, if it comes out in trade. Although I wasn't the biggest fan of the character, this is a book I'd read just for the art and composition. If you've been enjoying the mini-series, continue reading it. If you haven't been reading it, borrow it from a friend. 
 

UPDATE:

Ron Marz made mention on twitter that the PDF version of the book, which I read, had some issues with the captions and colors. I checked out the book at my local shop and the difference between the two is like night and day. The caption boxes are incredibly easy to read, and it seems like the problem was just in the PDF file. As for the 2 pages where you have to flip the book around, again, it looks so much better in print format, and it flows very nicely. I enjoyed it so much more this time around. I could understand the character much better, and even though I stated I didn't like the character. I'll put it this way. A little bit of easy to read inner-dialogue goes a long way.