REVIEW: ‘Eliteware,’ Issue #3

Eliteware #3 was created and written by Mike DeCosta, with pencils, inks, and letters from Eyrn Williams, and colors from Eliana Falcon. The series follows a family torn apart by Elites, the ruling class of this science fiction future. Up until now, we’ve gotten acquainted with Tiya and Diviran. In the first issue, we explored Tiya’s position in the world and in the last issue we got to see how Diviran is attempting to fight back against an unjust system.

In issue number three, we get to see into the past of the family and understand more of Diviran’s motivations, Tiya’s distrust of Ketta and ultimately where Ketta falls in the hierarchy of the world they all exist in. Up until now, we’ve had a lot of context clues as to the nature of the family’s relationship with the Elites. But in Eliteware #3, we get to see how they were separated and start to understand just how much Tiya and her brother are existing for the use of the Elites.

As we follow Diviran as he breaks into the facility that his mom is being held at, we get to see a lot of action which is well done and leaves me excited for when we see Tiya compete in the campaign against a fierce opponent names Mercy – the only reason she wasn’t taken by Cordova like her brother. You’ll have to pick up issue number three to get the full story, but it’s safe to say that DeCosta is setting up for some large scale showdowns in the near future as they prepare to finish the series’ first arc.

The art in the issue is still something to get used to especially the way faces are drawn close up and focused on one character. In fact, some of the best art and colors come in the second half of the issue. With close-ups of Diviran, Williams is able to focus on making one character look superb and the Falcon’s talent shines when she uses monochromatic color schemes to show the darkness of the closed spaces that Diviran moves through.

Overall, I’m still looking forward to seeing where the story goes and in Eliteware #3, you get answers to some questions set up by the first two. That being said, I recommend reading them fairly close together as I needed to reread pieces of issues two to make sure that I was following the story.

There are two things that I want to see more of, the first is the strength that Tiya showed at the beginning, which with her campaign coming up, I know DeCosta will deliver. The second is that I want to see Diviran use his eye implant more. We get to see the brutal process of putting it in, and only get to see small glimpses of its capability in the facility firefight. Knowing that he is going to fight his way out, I’m hoping this will be shown more than just his use of his gun.

If you’re looking for a project to support I highly recommend backing this books. It’s clear now that some of the questions that left me wanting more in the last issues were intentional, as DeCosta has begun to answer them. All three issues are available now in physical copies here, and you can support the Kickstarter when it launches on March 1st by following them on Twitter.