Terrorwar #3 - Image Comics

TERRORWAR No. 3, June 2023

Predominantly consisting of Muhammad Cho holding a series of conversations with various representatives of Blue City’s security forces, this twenty-page-periodical’s plot arguably contains little to maintain its audience’s attention, apart from a flurry of activity at the comic’s very start. Sure, the introduction of Central Command’s shock troopers and live ammunition certainly raises the stakes for this book’s main cast, especially when the “low-rent team” are threatened with instant execution if they don’t surrender themselves to the authorities immediately. But the crew’s resistance in the face of such lethal, strong-arm shenanigans is as frustratingly fleeting as this publication’s subsequent dialogue is perturbingly long-winded.

In addition, those bibliophiles who abhor unnecessary expletives will invariably struggle to wade their way through the sheer avalanche of f-bombs which Issue Three of “Terrorwar” disappointingly contains. Of course, considering the deadly danger faced by “the man who just might be the best terrorfighter in all of Blue City”, the odd swear word is perhaps perfectly understandable. However, the bad language inside this comic is so infuriatingly endemic that it soon starts to debatably suggest that every time Saladin Ahmed was at a lost for one of his characters to say something smart, he simply penned them boorishly blaspheming; “You lower ward people sure are direct.”

Sadly, this all-pervading unpleasantness resultantly poisons poor Muhammad’s personality too, and seemingly transforms the somewhat likeable do-gooder into a truly, foul-mouthed lout who brutally backtalks the polite, well-spoken woman who currently leads his people’s conurbation. Indeed, the protagonist’s improper behaviour towards the “powerful politician” appears to be more in line with that of the villainous Paolo’s Poachers, than this series’ supposed hero. 

Adding little apart from an extensive carousel of close-ups and angry facial expressions is “horror star Dave Acosta”, whose proficient pencilling does just enough to push each conversational piece into the next. “Best known for his work on Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark”, the illustrator does a first-rate job of depicting the raw energy on show whilst Cho’s crew attempt to slug their way out of Central Command’s custody. Yet, due to this comic’s sedentary script, these panels are short-lived and soon replaced with little more than figures stood talking to one another.

Written by: Saladin Ahmed, Pencils by: Dave Acosta, Inks by: Jay Leisten, and Colors by: Walter Pereyra