Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia Issue 3 [Comic Review – Action / Comedy / Wrestling]

Note: Review copy supplied by the author

Title: Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia #3: Two Peas In A Pot
Author: Matt Entin and Ed Kiehnel
Pencils: Dan Schkade
Inks: David Hahn
Colours: Marissa Louise
Publisher: Starburns Industries Press
Genre: Action / Comedy
Released: June 19th, 2018
Pages: 28

When a disgruntled professional wrestler declares himself “Galactic Champion of the Universe,” Earth is invaded by a planet of wrestling aliens who view it as an act of war!

Those who remember my review of Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia Issue 1 & 2 last October will know that I was fond of the mix of old school wrestling and comedy that the series presented. This time around, Matt and Ed are providing more of the same with some additional twists along the way.

Starting the cover, I have to say, I love the new logo. The old school WrestleMania feel to it gets my nostalgic senses tingling, and the cover art itself is a decent representation of what has become the archetypal promoter. The interior art is also strong, building on the decent groundwork of the first two issues by feeling a little tidier. While the action scenes and general facial expressions are again standouts in this regard, it’s actually the character designs that really popped for me. From the gloriously over the top Wrestletopians to the more referential human wrestlers like Ivan Kalashnikov and Iron Hussein, it’s an absolute joy to see, whether you prefer your wrestling cartoony or territory-tinged.

The main story is continuing along nicely, with the deadbeat Rory Landell still being hunted down by Manifest Destiny and his crew. To that end, we get to see plenty of classic wrestling tropes from the training to equal your hero to the manipulative promoter, and all the way back to a good old fashioned double cross. The great thing is, for all the silliness of the concept, there’s definitely something more here, with an intriguing world being built up steadily with each issue. The humour was also on point again, with my favourite part being the World Leader Summit devolving into a wrestling style brawl. That, in particular, was a great illustrator of how important wrestling is in this world.

As a bonus, we’re treated to some excellent back matter too. This starts with a set of 1984 wrestling cards featuring the roster we saw in the first issue. If you ever collected vintage wrestling cards, these will be immediately familiar to you stylistically. The promo shots, basic stats, and write-up are exactly the sort of condensed marketing package that collector cards were always intended to be. Meanwhile, the next issue preview is accompanied by another old school magazine staple, the tie-in cassette tape.

All in all, this is a great addition to what is fast becoming a fun series. In a way, it kinda feels like what would have happened if Marvel’s WCW comic in the ’90s had set out to combine vintage wrestling with science fiction, but with better art and writing. Easily a 4.5 out of 5.