COYOTES #3

by Doug Warren on January 10, 2018

Story Sean Lewis
Art Caitlin Yarsky
Publisher  Image Comics

Lewis and Yarsky waste no time getting into the action in Coyotes no. 3. When we last left our protagonist, Red, she and Officer Coffey had found the house they believed to be the origin of the dolls bearing the likenesses of those around them. And as we join them now, Red is being berated by the mysterious Abuela, and Coffey is literally on fire. But, hey, they know who makes the dolls now, so that’s cool, right?

Escaping the house at gunpoint (RPGpoint?), the ancient and mythological origins of the coyotes and women come to light. But not all questions are answered. And, as Coffey returns to the land of men and civilization, we find there may be more people who know the secrets of the things around them, and they are determined to make sure the secrets stay just that—secret.

The artwork continues to hold up. The characters are expressive and fluid (no stiffness), but I do need to talk about the dialogue and speech bubbles. First off, I’ve got to give Yarsky some props (I assume the lettering is under the “Art by” umbrella, since no other letterer is credited). There are some unique things going on there that really make this comic stand out. First, as has been mentioned in my reviews of previous issues, all of Red’s dialogue is written in red, radiating a messianic vibe. And the Coyote’s oversized, scratchy letters really add to the feel of the comic. There are even characters whose  speech bubbles are decorated with ornate filigree.

But, the normal lettering. Sigh. I hate the normal lettering in this comic. And take this with a grain of salt because my years of teaching handwriting might be making me kind of cynical, but I hate the regular lettering. It really looks like generic best-I-can-do junior high penmanship. At first, the combination of capital and lowercase letters (as normal text is written) was interesting, made the book stand out. But, now it’s just so blah. I really miss the bold capitals that usually grace the comic pages.

At this point, the background work is still building in Coyotes, and it continues to deliver deep, symbolic stories.
 

Our Score:

7/10

A Look Inside