New Masters #3 Review

Writer: Shobo / Artist: Shof / Image Halfway through the mini-series, there’s still plenty of world building and exposition in play, but the main narrative of New Masters is in full swing after a very stressful inciting incident. Ola, not wanting to be cooped up on the ship, makes an attempt to leave only to see the nearby neighborhood get bombarded. This is enough to convince Ola’s mother to take the sketchy job in exchange for Jovian residency passes for her husband and daughter. And thus, the heisting in Eko begins. The crew begins scoping out the job to steal an artifact called “The Eye of Ọ̀rúnmìlà” (for those taking notes at home, yes this is a Yoruba mythological reference, and shout out to Shobo for incorporating so much of the myth and heritage into the story). New Masters #3 feels like the series has finally found its stride. With a clear impetus and some much-needed flashbacks, we finally have a good sense of the crew we’re following and a better understanding of some of the complex sociopolitical parties at play. It took half the series to do so, but given the incredible scope of the story, I’m perfectly okay with how the pieces of the puzzles were distributed.

New Masters #3 is our first real opportunity to see the decadence of the Jovians, and their splendor contrasts brilliantly with some of the squalor we’ve witnessed the last two issues. Shof and Francesco Segala utilize significantly brighter, more vibrant colors for the Jovians which plays off brilliant…