If issue two was about putting the pieces into place, then W0rldtr33 #3 by James Tynion IV and Fernando Blanco starts answering some of the bigger questions. But if you think everything will start falling completely into place, you’d only be partially right. Although we’ve been given an answer to (and a peek inside!) the Undernet, it’s what’s lurking inside it that begs for more clarity.

SPOILERS BELOW

Issue three begins where our players were last left, starting with Ellison leaving police custody. But, it’s less out of the frying pan and more into the fire – literally – with Darren and Amanda attempting to rescue Fausta from the Undernet’s hypnosis, all the while the house burns around them. PH3AR, the murderous, nude avatar of the Undernet (or what’s inside the Undernet), is still mysteriously murderous; however, we’re given a peek into her psyche, how she revels in the blood and violence, and why she seems to not care about anything else. Fausta’s peek into the Undernet is nightmare fuel, to say the least. But as we’re given a view into what she was experiencing, some pieces are beginning to land into place. Or at least it looks like they might, especially since PH3AR and Gabriel seem to have a connection (their white hair), but it’s Gabriel who gives what the W0rldtr33 group is trying to prevent – the end of the world – and they have every right to be scared.

The idea of being scared of what’s down below is such a great idea in terms of fear and entertainment. Typically, it refers to the water or any sort of chasm that protagonists can’t see, but the creative team of W0rldtr33 directed that phrase to what’s below the internet. The idea of the internet having an underground or sub-basement isn’t exactly fiction. The dark web, as it’s so affectionately called, is real and has problems all on its own, but it exists and we can see and interact with it, in essence.

Writer’s Note: Don’t actually go to the dark web.

Tynion plays with the fear of the deep unknown while simultaneously mixing it with the internet’s influence on the real world. It should come as no surprise that doing so effectively makes the story hit close to home, with violence spilling into reality. Being possessed, or influenced, to commit violence and how it could result in the end of the world as we know it seems to be the message he’s playing with. We’re all connected to the internet, and as such, we’re all capable of its influence.

As always, Blanco’s artwork hits all the right notes, with the colors and shadows doing a lot to emphasize each panel. One thing to point out is the covers: each one depicts PH3AR murdering someone or some people with a green filter layered over, similar to the way The Matrix films utilized green to emphasize cyberspace. Green seems to do the same here, showing how it’s connected to the web, which gives a lot to think about. Anytime there’s green, the Undernet is present it seems. It’s something to think about when going through any future issue.

W0rldtr33 #3 is an excellent issue that begins to answer some of the bigger questions, laying the groundwork for more mystery, and producing a captivating cliffhanger that gives us even more to think about.


Creative Team: James Tynion IV (writer/co-creator); Fernando Blanco (art/co-creator); Jordie Bellaire (colors); Aditya Bidikar (letters); Steve Foxe (editor); Dylan Todd (design)
Publisher: Image Comics
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