BISHOP #3 – The Past, The Future, The Complications

9

Creative Team – Saladin Ahmed, Mario Santoro, Reese Hannigan, Federico Blee, VC’s Travis Lanham, Davide Paratore

Published by Marvel Comics

Catch up with Bishop #2!

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Megan and Shawn!

The Writing

Shawn – Saladin Ahmed really draws you into the story with Bishop #3. This issue just hits the right note emotionally. You not only feel Bishop’s love for Shard, but Ahmed also really makes you feel the tension between the two. Ahmed continues to use this tension to tease the idea that while we are learning more with each issue, there’s something Shard is not willing to share. Steppingstone serves as a really great villain for this issue with Ahmed using him really effectively to not only move the plot forward but to continue to establish the relationship between Bishop and Shard.

I’m really enjoying learning more about Bishop and Shard. Bishop #3 gave a good chance to see how this relationship may have played out in the past, while also giving us an idea of why Bishop may want it to go differently if given a different chance. It’s clear how much Bishop loves Shard from Ahmed’s words, but it may come back to haunt him in the end. There’s a brilliant drive to the next issue, with you feeling Bishop’s desperation to try and tell Shard what will happen to prevent it, and Shard desperately wanting to complete her mission without impacting her world.

Megan – Bishop #3 gives us so much. There’s action, there’s emotions, there’s a cliffhanger that’ll leave you anxiously waiting for the next issue to drop. Saladin Ahmed continues the thrilling miniseries of Bishop, who has come into contact with the person he’s missed the most, Shard. His sister, Shard, was sent back in time to fight the Brotherhood who has their eyes on Bishop and plans to take him out. Shard can’t let that happen, so she and Bishop team up to take down the Brotherhood themselves. In the last issue, their target was Flamequake, but this new villain, Steppingstone, looks to be a much bigger threat.

Bishop continues to be an emotionally driven story with plenty of action involved. Bishop is still coming to terms with seeing his sister, the same sister who he saw die before his very eyes. There’s so much trauma to unpack, but he doesn’t get a second to think as it’s one villain of the Brotherhood after another. What also eats at him is the fact that Shard doesn’t want to know what happened in their past as it’ll change the timeline. So, Bishop can’t even warn here about what’s to come. There’s many layers to the emotions of the main character, and Saladin Ahmed handles them with ease.

The Art

Shawn -The art team for this issue really handled it well. While the action of this issue is spectacular, it’s the close-ups of Bishop and Shard that really steal the show. Mario Santorio and Reese Hannigan really capture the depth and detail in Bishop’s face in the close-up panels. Federico Blee will get you lost in Shard’s deep blue eyes with the perfect color selection for her. There was a lot of action in this issue and it would have been easy to get lost, but Travis Lanham not only does a great job of guiding readers through the issue but he absolutely kills it with the SFX work this issue.

Megan – The artists understood the assignment when they saw that this issue is packed full of action and has many opportunities put some powersets on full display. Inside Bishop #3, we see beautifully drawn panels that make you feel apart of the action between Bishop, Shard, and Shippingstone. There’s a great mixture of heavily detailed portions with abstract parts that tie each page together. With the powersets on full display, we see so many beautiful vibrant points just from Bishop’s mutant powers alone. The artists worked perfectly off of each other, making each page absolutely stunning.

Final Thoughts

Shawn -9/10. Bishop #3 is an impactful story with real depth. There’s action, emotion, connection, and family all present in the same issue. The art stuns and the writing has you anticipating the next issue.

Megan – 9/10. Bishop gets better and better with each issue, making me extremely excited for the next one to drop! Bishop #3 is emotional, impactful, exciting, and very compelling. The creative team has done a beautiful job!

Overall Grade – 9/10

Let us know in the comments what you thought of Bishop #3!