It’s time for the obligatory flashback episode! All you need to know about this one is that we’re primarily dealing with the backstory for the most popular Sniper Wolf since Metal Gear Solid. Was it worth the wait? Let’s find out!
Tangle and Whisper Issue 3
IDW Publishing
Story: Ian Flynn
Art: Evan Stanley
Colours: Leonardo Ito
“Betrayal.” The origin of Whisper the Wolf is revealed! All your (and Tangle’s) questions answered! Where did her Wisps come from? How did she get her Variable Wispon? Why does she hate Eggman so much? And who betrayed her? Whisper’s secret origin is revealed-and what secrets from her past will help her and Tangle in the present?!
As always, I’m starting with the cover. I got Cover A by issue artist Evan Stanley. It places the focus on Whisper unmasking, which really sums up what the issue is about, so nice work there. Cover B by Nathalie Fourdraine looks really pretty, and is definitely worth a look-in too, while Priscilla Tramontano’s Cover RI makes good use of colour and split-screen effects.
As far as the internals go, who doesn’t love Evan’s Sonic art? She’s one of the key artists in the franchise for a reason. Here, her work is as clean and crisp as you’d expect, with a healthy mix of dynamic poses and clear facial expressions. One thing that I think Evan excels at more than some is showing subtle differences in facial shapes between characters. Her eye placement and general proportions are excellent in that regard.
And to top it all off, Leonardo is on fine form with the colours. He does an excellent job with lighting, making use of shadow effects on the characters in a way that fits the nighttime setting. In the same way, the video playback sections also feature a lighter, almost grainy hue, that makes them stand out as different from the events unfurling in real-time.
The story was what you’d expect, but it had a lot of nice little moments to pick up on. For one, the photograph of Whisper and her former allies shows a very different wolf to the one we’re used to. Her eyes are wide open, and she’s sporting a wide smile. Even the video playback from her POV reveals her to be talking at a normal volume. It’s such a stark contrast to how she is now that it really packs an emotional punch.
The Shadow androids had an interesting design, though I do question where they’ve been all this time. Unless Eggman lost them all during the battle with Whisper’s team, it seems odd that we haven’t seen them in use yet. Whisper’s mask enabling her to understand Wisps is a nice touch though, and will no doubt be useful going forward.
In the end, Tangle was her usual, over the top, adorable self, even bringing Whisper out herself emotionally at times. She’s a delight, and I love seeing these two together. The final moments set up the final confrontation nicely too, so I’m expecting most of the final issue to be battle-based.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. As a buddy duo, Tangle and Whisper are wonderful. The story fits well within the larger universe, and the whole thing has been a joy so far. This gets an easy 5 out of 5 from me.
Matt Doyle Media 