Wild Animals #3: Finally, a Crime

Wild Animals #3 opens up the crime story aspect of the series further than it’s been so far. The accidental murder that ended the previous issue advances the nuts and bolts plot considerably and as a result gives it a kind of urgency that it hasn’t had to this point. In some respects Wild Animals was a crime story in name only before this issue. Neil is finally at a point of no return, locked into a world he wasn’t a part of even one issue earlier.

A refreshing aspect of the crime story plot is how dependent it is on Neil’s choices. This isn’t a story that just happens to Neil. He isn’t caught up in circumstances. The plot’s advancement in Wild Animals #3 is a direct result of Neil’s actions.

The series’ focus is still Neil as a character, though, rather than the plot. Wild Animals #3 is principally concerned with Neil’s reaction to his accidental killing of one of the three cops he was looking for. In keeping the issue almost totally locked on Neil’s thought process and responses, Brisson preserves the tragic quality that has underpinned Neil from the start. Brisson is also able to maintain Neil as a sympathetic character. Rather than push him further toward a shades of gray morality that often characterizes crime story protagonists, Wild Animals #3 keeps Neil treading water in that regard thanks to his horrified response to what happened.

Kuhn’s depiction of Neil in Wild Animals #3 further plays into the character’s preservation as a reasonably sympathetic character. Kuhn draws Neil with a determined, almost angry look throughout the issue’s first half as he handles the fallout from the previous issue’s ending. This appearance for the character accompanies an internal monologue where he tries to rationalize what happened and what he’s doing as a result.

Neil’s appearance in the second half of Wild Animals #3 is quite different, though. There’s no conviction or determination on his face. His expression is perpetually hangdog. The vulnerability from his worst moments in the first two issues returns. No matter how powerful Neil may seem to be in isolated moments, Kuhn’s art always brings expectations of who Neil is and what he can do back to Earth. The resulting tension between art and narrative adds complexity to Neil’s character.

Brisson includes a brief flashback sequence to Neil when he was much younger. Like previous flashbacks, Cunniffe color choices are softer relative to the rest of the issue. Cunniffe also uses warmer colors for the setting and people in it. The result is a very welcoming sequence that helps reinforce the better parts of Neil’s character. The flashback sequence almost perfectly separates the two depictions of Neil–angry and determined versus sad and vulnerable. Cunniffe’s work creates something akin to an emotional primer for what happens to Neil in the latter half of the issue.

Wild Animals #3 is text heavy in several places. Much more of its story advances via dialogue than was the case in the previous two issues. Jones organizes the dialogue and captions very effectively, keeping the text from distracting from Kuhn’s art even in the smaller, text heavy panels.