Review: WE3 by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely

by Chriss Cornish published: February 13, 2008 No Comments

This Book Is About

Deep inside a top-secret U.S. Air Force research facility, a revolution in cybernetics is taking shape. Using ordinary domestic animals for their test subjects, the scientists of Project AWE have created a new class of cyborgs… With their nervous systems enhanced and supplemented by cutting-edge military hardware, WE3 are the ultimate smart weapons… But successful as they are, WE3 are still only prototypes, to be dismantled when their testing is complete. Inside their fearsome mechanical shells, however, are three lost pets whose amplified traits include the will to survive-an instinct which proves to be even stronger than their makers knew. Faced with destruction, WE3 runs-out into a frightening and confusing world, where they are now as much of a threat as those who hunt them. Relentlessly pursued, WE3 fights with the combined firepower of a battalion-and a faint, warm memory of somewhere called “Home”.

My Thoughts On This Book

This is one of the graphic novels I picked up at the 2007 ComiCon. WE3 is good, serious science fiction. It is, however, rather violent and a bit grisly, making it definitely a mature-readers-only.

WE3 is a team of military cyborg prototypes using three domestic pets as the subjects; a dog, a cat and a bunny. The dog, !1!, is the unit leader and it’s his faintly remembered idea of ‘home’ that the trio seek out when they escape. The cat, !2!, is the violent one of the three and has to be kept in check by !1! once they’re on their own. The rabbit, !3!, is a passive demolitions unit (who poops mines, seriously). I like that part of the artwork are the “lost pet” fliers for each of the three animals.

Their creator is either very attached to the animals, emotionally disturbed, or both. Because when the trio of cyber-critters is to be decommissioned after testing finishes, she intentionally doesn’t enter the system password that would lock them down. And there’s almost a suggestion that she wants them to kill her for what she’s done to them. Maybe it’s just me.

The story was well written and the Quitely was very creative and cinematic with the framing. I especially like the overlaid image tiling trick they used in several of the action scenes. I’ve never seen that done anywhere else; it really gives you a sense of a thousand things happening at once. The artwork for WE3 is pretty realistic and the coloring is expertly handled.

A friend of mine at the Con didn’t want to read the series because he said it was sad and that the characters were made to kill their friends. After reading it myself I can say that, though it has sad moments, the story actually has what I’d call a happy ending. Oh, and WE3 isn’t forced to kill any of their friends or comrades, Keenan. Really. One rat is, though. However, as it had a drill bit for a head and was being remote controlled at the time I don’t think it really had an opinion on the subject.

Anyways, if you like dark or military sci-fi then you’ll certainly enjoy WE3.