How WEIRD do you want your WORLD?

[Pav]

I loved this issue, perhaps even more than the first! I'm not one that tends to do summaries on these boards, but here we go...

spoilers:

The issue opens with Arkon being made a prisoner in Apelantis. His initial strategy to escape? To bang his head against his cell wall until it breaks. Luckily for Arkon and his head, he is engaged by the prisoner in the cell next door; this turns out to be Warbow, the Crystal Warrior! Warbow tells Arkon that he can escape his cell whenever he wants, but he has so far been unable to reach the surface of the lagoon in which the underwater apes dwell. He hopes that together, he and Arkon can escape, and so Warbow smashes down the walls enclosing them and they make a run for it, grabbing their weapons along the way. The apes put up some resistance, but our intrepid heroes manage to reach the surface of the lagoon to freedom! Arkon is upset at the loss of his map and demands that he and Warbow go back for it; however, Warbow provides an alternative: if Arkon will help him rescue his best friend and Prince, Crystar, then he can have the map that Warbow has made of Weirdworld. Arkon agrees, and the two reach Morgan Le Fey's stronghold just after she leaves atop the dragon we met in issue one. Together, Warbow and Arkon make their way through enemy ogres and eventually reach Le Fey's treasure room, where Arkon is horrified to see that Warbow's friend and prince is nothing but a bag of broken crystal. And then they are surrounded by Molten Men!

end of spoilers

Specifics that I loved about the issue:

1. I loved the twist at the end about Crystar, Warbow's reaction to finding his "friend", and Arkon's reaction to Warbow's reaction! When we first saw Warbow's eye, I did get the sense that something was up. Eyes always play a huge role in Literature in one form or another, and the way that Mike del Mundo drew that panel made me wonder right away about Warbow's mentality; so I was glad to see that, indeed, Warbow doesn't seem to be quite "all there". The threat of insanity by just being in Weirdworld is a fantastic aspect of this story/plot, and I even wonder if perhaps Arkon might happily choose to revel in some amount of insanity himself as we approach the end of the first arc.

2. Warbow LOOKS awesome. But then, everything in this comic looks awesome.

3. I loved how, despite the seeming advanced state of their home/lifestyle, the apes of Apelantis are not supersmart apes who know English. For whatever reason, I found that particular touch to be really funny and enjoyable.

4. I'm curious as to the role the dragon will play as the story unfolds. At first, I just kind of assumed the dragon was more of a plot device than a character, but with its reintroduction in this issue, I'm wondering if it will play a continual role in the series. Part of me hopes so for the single reason that it's the single coolest visual example of a dragon in a comic book that I've ever seen.

5. The most telling line in the issue, I think, is the line about how Arkon is beginning to forget Polemachus, his original homeland. Does anyone else think that the end of the first story arc will see Arkon becoming King of Weirdworld rather than returning home? We've been told that this series is supposed to be ongoing, so I can see Arkon as ruler with Warbow by his side, along with whoever else they might happen to meet in their travels.

I hope that we can keep the conversation about this book going. Sometimes it feels like the discussions on these boards that focus on negative stuff sustain themselves more easily, yet I can't imagine anyone reading this and having major complaints about it. Beyond wanting Arkon to gain more of an interesting, individual personality, I think this book is firing on all cylinders!

People that aren't reading this are really missing out. If that's you, Person Who Is Reading This Right Now, buy this book and get weird with us!!!

-Pav, who can't wait for issue the third...

[Exciter]

I agree! This issue was just fantastic in every respect.

[FanboyStranger]

For me this is shaping up to be best Aaron's Marvel work.

Yeah, I agree. There's also a sense that it could fall apart at any time, which also makes it exciting. Caution has been completely thrown to the wind.

[UltimateTy]

For me this is shaping up to be best Aaron's Marvel work.

Its up there

[marvelprince]

I just read the issues, this is really fantastic stuff. The look on Arkon's face at the end was utterly priceless. Very glad for the confirmation that this will continue post SW.

[Shinglepants]

Just picked my copy up today, simply amazing. Looks like Aaron is really taking advantage of all the potential that Secret Wars/Battle World offered him and he really is crafting something unlike anything else Marvel is putting out.

First time I've come across Warbow but he seems cool. Hope he and Arkon stick together, looks like he might be needing a new friend!

[Shinglepants]

I just read the issues, this is really fantastic stuff. The look on Arkon's face at the end was utterly priceless. Very glad for the confirmation that this will continue post SW.

Yeah, you could almost see the realisation sinking in, he is so screwed. Great work by Del Mundo again.

[HsssH]

Anyone got a link to confirmation about this continuing after SW?

[Ragdoll]

Weirdworld #3 was great. It has the tone of Aaron's early Thor work in God Butcher. A return to high octane, world building epics.
Am I the only one who thinks Akron is an idiot for just dismissing the crystal guy as crazy? Far weirder things have happened than a sentient crystal lying dormant in a shattered state.

[Hawk_Guy]

Just read #3, but was anyone else confused when Arkon says "As the glass shatters around me..."

What glass is he talking about? It almost seems like there was a skipped panel or something. What am I missing?

[Ragdoll]

Just read #3, but was anyone else confused when Arkon says "As the glass shatters around me..."

What glass is he talking about? It almost seems like there was a skipped panel or something. What am I missing?

Well it looks like they went out a window. And it seems the writer intentionally made us feel like we missed a panel, because even the character didn't himself seem to know how he came to be flying midair, saying "I cannot say if I was pushed or if I jumped". So whatever happened, even Akron doesn't have a clear memory of it.

[caramon]

I love this! So amazing, the artwork reminds me of covers from obscure 70s prog rock bands, really great! Can't wait to pick up issue 3 today :-) And I will be eternally grateful to the staff at FP Glasgow for recommending it as I kinda missed it (too many SW titles I guess I was fed up)

[Pav]

Hey everyone! Read issue #3 last night and re-read it again this morning. Just like you, I really enjoyed the issue; however, I do think something is missing - not sure what exactly, but my best guess is that WEIRDWORLD is giving me everything I wanted but it's not yet giving me something I didn't even know I wanted.

I will also admit that I'm disappointed about the "craziness" of the characters. Arkon keeps claiming that Warbow is insane; he's worried that he too will go insane. And we're told in the solicits that Skull the Slayer has gone insane also. Yet none of these characters strike me as particularly crazy-go-nuts. Mike del Mundo has certainly provided some looks, especially from Warbow, that suggest craziness, but nobody's actions or dialogue feel crazy enough.

Regardless, this book is fun as all get-out and I hope, as long as del Mundo is on art chores, that it continues indefinitely.

Oh, and I'm even more strongly of the belief that Arkon is going to become King of Weirdworld. Why? The line about being a fool strikes me as important, as the role of the Fool and the King tend to be related in Literature. (One is really the other, for example.)

Excited for Issue #4! I don't think I'm even going to look at the preview for it when it's available!

-Pav, who loved seeing on the map where Warbow cried...

[kevlon]

The title and theme of this book put me off - but I've just read issues 1-3 and think this book is amazing! The art is awesome and the story is funny and packed with action. Love it, love it, love it!

[Awwwvenger]

I think the insanity Arkon talks about is his loosening grip on reality, and not a matter of brain chemistry. Or a Deadpool or Joker type "sociopath of randomness", either.

He's stuck in a place that, to him, operates on dream logic. Weird stuff just keeps happening to him. He's encountering events and people he would have, in his prior life, called impossible, and the people seem to just roll with it. To him, the world has gone mad. And he fears that soon he won't be able to tell what is normal and what isn't. And it's only a small step from that to not being able to distinguish real and unreal. Or crazy and sane...