Comic Book Review - The Ambassadors #3

Enter Codenames France & Paris...

Over the last few weeks, Mark Millar has really delivered with his new superhero series. With the first two issues scoring a perfect 10/10, does issue #3 follow suit?

With Choon-He's superhero draft finding its way to France, it gives Millar the chance of yet another origin story, as well as expanding upon the wider narrative that's been slowly picking up pace in the background. This issue focuses on Hotel worker Yasmine Gauvin who's writing to Choon-He in the hopes that she is picked to become the Ambassador for France. In her letter Yasmine delves into her personal life as she speaks about the fears for her son, and what his future could possibly hold. Suffering from being bullied in school, and not having a role model, Yasmine's son Jean-Luc is one bad decision away from becoming a number within the French judicial system. Not only does he dream of revenge against his tormenters, he's also losing connection with his mother. Being chosen as an Ambassador is Yasmine's attempt at giving her Son someone to believe in, while doing something worth while.

Fast forward a few weeks and during a typical meal time, Yasmine reveals a secret to Jean-Luc, not only does she have access to an underground HQ that's filled with numerous gadgets, she's also Codename France. But that's not all, Jean-Luc is along for the ride to as sidekick; Codename Paris. Que plenty of references to Batman & Robin and Millar's superhero epic has its first official team-up. The rest of the issue sees the Mother, Son duo as they stop crime on the Parisian streets. Its perfectly executed as Millar is then able to divulge more into how the Ambassador's powers work. While each hero has access to a bank of powers, only one power can be used by a single hero at as time. Not only does this stop the Ambassadors from all being one dimensional by using the same powers, it also strips them of any potential plot armor.

Much like the first two issues, Millar utilizes the talents of another industry heavyweight to bring his narrative to life. For issue #3 this duty falls to Travis Charest who brings plenty of realistic line work with him. From the first page, each cell is a wash with detail. Charest packs plenty of detail into his character work which really helps to solidify the intimate parts of the narrative. Action sequences are also of the same quality. If its stopping an out of control train, or a high speed chase through the Paris streets, Charest captures these thrills as if he's experiencing them first hand - and it's bloody marvelous!

Dave Stewart has the envious task of adding the colour work to this issue, and he does so with ease. Stewart's somewhat dull palette helps to build the urban environment with a sense of grit about it. Unlike the more vibrant colours seen within issue #2, Stewart helps to build those Batman homages with plenty of Gotham-esq tones that taps into the noir setting hiding underneath the surface.

All in all The Ambassadors #3 continues the trend of being this weeks 'must read'. Not only is Mark Millar showing us that he has plenty of creative prowess up his sleeves, he's crafting a true juggernaut of a read at the same time. With The Ambassadors, he's somewhat reinvented the genre with a smart comic that's moving away from those traditional thoughts of who - or - what as super hero is, and more importantly, what it means to be a super hero. Away from the writing and the revolving door of artists works well in giving each Ambassador's origin story its own unique identity. The wealth of talent on display after just three issues is already making me question who's going to take it all forward when the time comes for a single artist.

Rating: 10/10

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Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev, and TikTok @Geekculturereviews.

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