Alias Red Band #3: Propelled by Action

Alias Red Band #3 picks up immediately where the previous issue ended and opens with a big action sequence. It’s a gripping opening and satisfies the expectation that Jessica and Mary will, at some point, have a knock down, drag out fight. As part of this, Humphries brings in Mary’s dissociative identity disorder. This does make the character less one-note, which she has been to this point, but at the same time the way it happens in the fight feels like a cheat.

This action sequence is visually intense. Borges captures a sense of quick movement in every panel. This works especially well because in a few instances there are more extreme jumps between panels. Where did Mary get that knife she cut Jessica with? When did Jessica stand up and pick up a typewriter she smashes against Mary’s head? Borges’s art implies constant action, so gaps like this don’t feel jarring.

Humphries uses Alias #3’s opening action sequence to better develop Mary. It’s very effective and makes the action sequence about more than just action. The action also advances the investigation with the opening fight offering Jessica the opportunity to get the next clue. In this way the opening fight isn’t simply a requisite high energy action sequence but something that very efficiently moves both the plot and character development forward.

There are a lot of good visual moments between Jessica and Mary after the fight when Humphries is taking time to build Mary up in dialogue. Borges delivers nuanced expressions from panel to panel. There is one page with six wide panels vertically stacked. There is a repetition of art from panel to panel–in the first two Jessica is looking down, in next three she is looking in profile, and in the last she is looking down. Thanks to the repetition, the second to last panel, when Borges draws an inclined eyebrow on Jessica instead of the previous two downward eyebrow, hits big.

The least effective component of Alias #3 is the jump forward to the legal inquiry Jessica is facing in the wake of the series’ ongoing events. There is only one page of it here, so it doesn’t hurt the pacing too much. But the flash forward remains a strange component because it moves the story from Jessica centric to Luke Cage centric.

Several panels throughout the issue, especially during action sequences, have an almost abstract quality. Hesli abandons the surrounding coloring to produce something jarring. Mary’s final charge at Jessica sees her in front of a bright red background, her hair and shirt a slightly contrasting purple, her skin completely white, and green surrounding her wide open eyes. It’s a shocking, memorable image.

Pettit keeps the dialogue bubbles and caption boxes well organized. At times this is a very text heavy issue, and Petit does a good job handling it all.