Speed Racer #3: Do Some Extra Reading

Speed Racer #3 touches on multiple ideas. Central to the character is the ongoing storyline of Speed trying to earn the money to pay for his father’s heart transplant. Pepose doesn’t milk Speed’s motivation for an excess of pathos, but he never loses track of it. In this issue it first morphs into Speed searching for whoever is responsible for the shakedown of Pop’s Motors–the event that led to his father’s heart attack–out of a sense of vengeance. Aggression has been one of Speed’s defining characteristics since the series began (first seen in a confrontation between Speed and his father), and it’s good to see Pepose marry the character trait with the ongoing plotline. This ability to build character development into plot so that the plot doesn’t run away with the story is a hallmark of Pepose’s writing.

Racer X finally becomes a character of note in Speed Racer #3. For the first time Pepose makes him feel like a part of this series rather than just a commercial for his own series. The character doesn’t become an integral part of Speed’s ongoing story (at least not in this issue), but he does serve a purpose in pushing back against Speed’s reflexive aggressive tendencies. Racer X sees Speed as little more than a street racer, and Speed’s arrogant challenge to Racer X’s opinion almost costs him everything.

This interaction between Racer X and Speed is where the Speed Racer #3 experience will diverge depending on whether or not the reader is familiar with Racer X #1. The character’s motivation for butting into Speed’s life is murky at best based solely on what is presented in Speed Racer #3. Without knowing what happened in his own series, Racer X comes across as an opinionated gate keeping jerk more than anything else. Pepose does try to solve this problem on Speed Racer #3’s final page, hinting at the likely reason for Racer X’s behavior. But the revelation doesn’t carry much emotion behind it. Indeed, it comes across as more of a clever “Aha!” moment than anything else. Maximizing the emotional journey offered in Speed Racer #3 requires reading Racer X #1.

Tinto gives Racer X a look that is a perfect match for his attitude as written by Pepose. Racer X’s mask covers his eyes which leaves Tinto with only the lower half of the character’s face to work with. Rather than exaggerate what features are available to work with, though, Tinto keeps Racer X’s expressions subtle. Unlike Tinto’s depiction of Speed–frequently wide-eyed and yelling–Racer X’s mouth is usually in a closed mouth sly smile. Tinto’s depiction matches the more confident arrogance displayed in Pepose’s writing.

Ace Duecey and the Wild Card Gang try to steal the Mach 5 at one point in the issue. Not surprisingly given their name, the group’s costumes are playing card themed. They’re a fun design, somewhat playful given how serious most of the racers in Speed Racer look, and work well as an off the wall biker gang.

Lokus’s coloring style for Speed Racer is consistently vivid, especially for characters. The nighttime setting for this issue’s race creates an even better contrast for Speed, Racer X, the Wild Card Gang, and the assorted cars. The result is a very punched up racing sequence.