Status
Call number
Publication
Description
Morrison and Quitely deliver the emotional journey of WE3-three house pets weaponized for lethal combat by the government-as they search for 'home' and attempt to ward off the shadowy agency that created them. With nervous systems amplified to match their terrifying mechanical exoskeletons, the members of Animal Weapon 3 (We3) have the firepower of a battalion between them. But they are just the program's prototypes, and now that their testing is complete, they're slated to be permanently decommissioned, causing them to seize their one chance to make a desperate run for freedom. Relentlessly pursued by their makers, the We3 team must navigate a frightening and confusing world where their instincts and heightened abilities make them as much a threat as those hunting them.… (more)
Media reviews
User reviews
There are some great things about this book. Most of that is due to Frank Quitely's art. The absolute best page is where we see a man being torn apart by a hail of bullets, and we are positioned on the opposite side of his body from the shooter, all the bullets coming right at us after having passed through him. It is the most beautiful image of a man being torn apart by bullets that I have ever seen. Indeed, the whole book is filled with oddly beautiful images of violence, which cause you to reevaluate what you think of violence more than any number of gruesome images ever will. In fact, the beautiful images that are not overtly violent are still only possible because of violence, such as the three animals' star-filled escape. Sure, it's gorgeous, and sure, it's a two-page splash emerging from a cramped grid of panels-- but a page earlier those animals murdered a bunch of people.
The notes at the end by Morrison and Quitely indicate that they think they're doing something innovative, and I don't fully buy it, but they're almost there. At first I rejected the tiny inset panels, though a great technique unique to comics, as having been done by Crisis on Infinite Earths back in 1985 (and though I like George Pérez, he's not exactly avant garde), but I realized that these are different. While Pérez's images show a number of moments all happening simultaneously to each other, Quitely juxtaposes multiple moments that don't actually take place simultaneously, but come on top of each other so quickly that they seem to. But I can't come up with an effect caused by the 3D panels that comics couldn't do before already.
The story itself is kinda obvious-- it really is any old "escaped animal" story but with violence and cyborgs. The characters are mostly types, especially the human beings (but maybe that's the point). We3 is formalistically complex, but not married to a story that makes full use of that complexity.
W3 ranks at the top of my list of favorite graphic novels. The artwork is done in a style somewhat like manga. Morrison and Quitely do a great job personalizing the animals. The dog still has the basic instinct to serve, to be a "gud dog." W1 is also poignantly despondent wen it thinks it had been a bad dog. The cat, W2, is not at all happy, is more than a little spiteful given the circumstances, and says things such as " Mmmen Stink! Bosss! Stink! Hungry" - think of a death-dealing Bucky Cat from the comic strip Get Fuzzy. The rabbit, would like some grass to eat.
Not surprisingly, the government does not come out looking all that good in this story and your sympathies are with the animals as they fight to survive and to reach the dimly remembered happy place, home. Animal lovers might find themselves a bit teary-eyed by the end.
W3 is definitely for mature readers.
This is just the saddest-happiest thing ever. I already knew the dog lived before I started (I made my boyfriend read it before me because I refuse to read anything in which a dog dies because it is JUST TOO SAD) but that didn't make it any less heartbreaking. Favourite thing
Well worth a look if you like intelligent comics. Is gud comic.
Be thankful for this story. It's not to be missed.
Very graphic, kinda gross. Definitely touching if you're an animal lover (I am). But I think to have a real impact it should have ended differently.
This is not an anthropomorphic tale, refreshingly even though trained to speak they are animalistic. Much more interesting and provides more of an emotional punch in what is very much an action comic. A good comic but what made it a great one are the gorgeous and eye popping "3D" graphics; as the super fast characters break out of panels and scatter-shot detail overlays gunfights capturing the fast, bloody chaotic detail of battle. There are quite a few techniques here and its absolutely fascinating eye candy, especially since it was very new to me.
Recommended to comics fans.
Be warned: there are adorable kitties and bunnies doing terrible things. I loaned this to a friend of mine and she wouldn't talk to me for a week because she was too traumatized by it. Seriously, she was actually angry with me.
Someone named Eva (below) called this "The Incredible Journey meets Robocop," and that's such a perfect description that I had to rip it off. Yes, Eva: that's what this is.
I have to admit that when I checked the book description on goodreads the premise just seemed ridiculous and I had little desire to read it. So probably the strongest praise I can give the book is that it works. Indeed it worked so well that I wanted more, which is my chief complaint. It's really a short story of a graphic novel, and like most good short stories there are parts so intriguing that you wish they could have been fleshed out more. I could have stood for the whole thing to be fleshed out more.
But the simple story was good and gripping, and the drawings were wonderful. I'm a graphic novel novice so I don't really know what I'm talking about, but one thing that stood out to me was the snapshot quality of the pictures. Not in the sense that they were so clear and realistic, but rather that they depicted mere moments in the proceedings, each building onto the last, as if you were flipping through a photo album. I don't think I'm doing a very good job describing it so I'll stop, but suffice it to say that it was captivating and unique. And gory, quite gory.
I would definitely recommend this to people with odd taste in movies and literature. It's not necessarily a go-out-and-buy-me type book, but it's a great library read, or maybe if you're stuck in a mall and have a half hour or so to spare while you're waiting for a movie to start, or waiting for your table at the restaurant, or something else like that.
3:32 pm 22 October 2015
We3 - Frank Quitely, Grant Morrison
This is a grim little story about animal testing, taken to the extreme. Morrison made me weep for these three animals - the titular WE3 - more than once. It's a thoughtful examination of what man will do in his own name, and
And while it was excellent, and I blew through this, I can't really write a long review. This whole damn thing was depressing. The ending was a bit uplifting, but I'm left with another wave of grief thinking over this story.
I'd definitely suggest it, but not if you can't stomach violence against animals.
He was right.
This is a story about a secret project that turns common household pets into murderous, rampaging mech-monsters. From the very beginning, I knew that this book was going to hit me hard. If you have difficulty dealing with animal cruelty? Stay away from this book. It's bloody. It's violent. It's so, so very sad. I found myself completely wrapped up in the story of these three pets, of We3 and their devastatingly bleak existence. I wanted to stop reading, but I kept reading and hoping that the ending would work out for the best.
Whew. Anyone who says that comics can't be used to tell important stories, is dead wrong. What better way to make a point than to illustrate it in broad, vivid art?
Writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely deliver the emotional journey
With nervous systems amplified to match their terrifying mechanical exoskeletons, the members of Animal Weapon 3 (WE3) have the firepower of a battalion between them. But they are just the program’s prototypes, and now that their testing is complete, they’re slated to be permanently “decommissioned,” causing them to seize their one chance to make a desperate run for freedom. Relentlessly pursued by their makers, the WE3 team must navigate a frightening and confusing world where their instincts and heightened abilities make them as much a threat as those hunting them -- but a world, nonetheless, in which somewhere there is something called “home.”
My Rating: Worth Reading, with Reservations
I feel like I need to read this again to really absorb the story and how the art impacts the story. When I originally finished, I was left wondering, "That's it?" I did quite like the ending, but I feel there were some holes in the story as well, holes that kept the story form being as strong as it could have been. Of course, stereotypical bad men doing bad science don't help that either. Still, it was interesting, but it was SHORT and hyper-violent, and if you're the kind of person who really gets torn up over cruelty done to (or by) animals, you may want to pass on this.
But it is an interesting story, one I'll probably read again, now that I now how it ends. Still though, I feel like I should've gotten more.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. It's a really short graphic novel (made up of three individual issues), so it seems a crime to spoil something this short. The full review may be found in my blog, which is linked below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.
REVIEW: Grant Morrison's WE3: THE DELUXE EDITION
Happy Reading!