Wayward #3 Review

Can this property hold onto its growing audience? Does it deserve to? Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

IMAGE COMICS’ NEW SUPERNATURAL SENSATION!

More students with strange abilities, more creatures emerging from the shadows…Rori can see patterns pulling it all together, but can she discover the secret beneath before it’s too late?

When it comes to monthly titles, for me, there’s a high bar for what I’ll openly admit ends up on my pull-list. After I cracked open the first issue of this new franchise I rushed to my local comic shop and said “shut up and take my money!” Because right from the start the creative team has crafted something special with Wayward that not only introduced this westerner to a foreign experience that he’ll never have, but found a way to take magic, the supernatural and keep theses elements grounded.

Jim Zub writes the third chapter of Rori Lane‘s growing odyssey with natural dialogue in mind. We’re dealing with a world that embraces culturally significant interpretations of mystical creatures, with teenagers that somehow possess “things [they] can do that normal people can’t.” There are so many sequences where by all accounts this text should jump the shark and head into laughable waters, but it doesn’t. Instead it compels in a way that deserves to find a dedicated following, as I genuinely hope this title exists for years to come.

From the first page to the final panel there’s absolutely no doubt that Steve Cummings was indeed the right talent for this job. Whether it’s a ghost, cats, or a simple conversation the comic book quickly finds itself with a visual cadence that ebbs and flows with personality but also purpose. John Rauch, Jim Zub and Tamra Bonvillain work together to make the colors a seamless extension of the already established brilliance carried within these dynamic illustrations.

Wayward #3 just speaks to me. It’s a thriller with a heart of gold, where just enough character development and arc progression adds up to a downright engaging cliffhanger. In other words: this release soundly comes highly recommended.