Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Joe R. Lansdale and Mark Alan Miller
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Editor: Daniel Chabon
Release Date: 20 January 2016
Price: $3.99
Dark Horse Comics
The battle between Steam Man, (giant robot, not a weird mutant who can turn himself into wet air, although I do recall a British character called Smoke Man who could do just that – I guess all the cool super powers were taken) and the Dark Rider’s lumbering emissary Sticks, (a walking skyscraper made up of kindling) continues where it left off in Steam Man #3.
Add in a bunch of killer Moorlocks to Steam Man #3, who seem to be popping up in just about every title you read these days in one form or another, and the crew of Steam Man #3 are in real trouble as the Dark Rider gallops into combat on his skeleton steed. Although decapitation seems to be popular this time around, there are lots of other disgustingly gruesome methods of dispatch employed in what has to be one of the most sustained and sickening sequences of violence in this or any other title.
In Steam Man #3, if writer and artist were aiming for shock value, they succeeded in no small measure. Not for the faint hearted and they promise us at least one more issue so I guess not everyone is going to die in what promises to be the final confrontation between Steam Man and the Dark Rider.
Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker