Barstow #3 is written by David Ian McKendry and Rebekah McKendry and published by Dark Horse Comics. Artwork is by Tyler Jenkins and letters by Justin Birch.
Barstow #3 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
With the assistance of local sheriff Papa Dodd and his partner Starr, Agent Miranda Diaz looks into the recent disappearance of an out-of-towner. Pria continues her demon possession dealings, and Eli battles for control over his own body.
Review
After an utterly hilarious and genuinely disturbing second instalment, it looks like things continue to set themselves in motion with this third issue. Pieces of the grander puzzle are starting to fall into place as demonic hijinks ensue all with a pinch biting satirical humour.
Once again, this issue opens with flashback. Over the course of the series so far, you can begin to figure details out from these opening scenes as characters start popping up one by one that we’ve seen briefly before. Though this cold open isn’t as comical as the previous issues was, there is still some joy to be found with just how chaotic it is.
Following on from the previous instalment, this issue takes its time to focus on the three core storylines that are concurrently running alongside each other. As Agent Diaz, with the help of local sheriff Papa Dodd, continues to run into more questions that answers you also have Pria trying wrangle up her literal demon and Eli try to take back control of his own body after previously being possessed in the last issue. Some storylines such as Eli and Pria’s naturally interweave here to interesting and humorous results whilst Diaz’s investigation slowly takes shapes.
All of these plot points start becoming more integral to each other in the final few pages. It’s great to David Ian and Rebekah McKendry having fun with their storytelling as each of these interactions and changes in the separate narratives allows character relationships to grow and be tested as everything builds up on itself. The last moments of this issue perfectly places the pieces needed for future confrontations and dilemmas to play out between all of these characters.
With each issue that passes Tyler Jenkins’ artwork seems to become more gnarly, doubling down on the grotesque imagery and rough around the edges look. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the creature designs and in an extremely bloody death that takes up a single page. It’s a simple but incredibly striking image that leaps from the panel in all its disgusting glory.
Barstow never fails to get both a laugh and gasp from me as I’m reading it. The story work is becoming more clearer and a lot tighter with every issue. It’s still early days in the narrative but I can already tell that things are shaping up in rather interesting ways that should make the next few instalments just that bit more exciting.
Verdict
Just as gruesome and morbidly funny as it’s previous instalments, Barstow continues to be a wild ride with each new issue. Though it is juggling a lot of elements all at once, it thankfully never collapses under its own weight.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
