The Weather Man vol. 3

Vol. 2 left off with the promise of a plan just so crazy it might work:  Nathan Bright was going to go undercover as Ian Black – the terrorist he used to be – in order to help the Earth government take out Jenner, the leader of the terrorist organization known as the Sword of God.  There was just one hitch.  That being the revelation that Ian never underwent the mindwipe that turned him into Nathan.  So who is actually going undercover here?  Did Nathan even exist at all?  And is there any way he’ll avoid being shot on sight when he re-connects with the Sword of God?  Regarding that last question, there is one way.  That’s if this was all part of Jenner’s plan from the start.

If that last bit doesn’t fill you with hope that this third and concluding volume of “The Weather Man” will have some of the same kind of fun that drove the previous two, then I have some bad news for you.  Much of vol. 3 is either grim, a downer, or some kind of combination of the two.  It’s appropriate for the kind of story that writer Jody Lehup is trying to tell, but it makes getting to the end of this seven-issue miniseries feel like more work than it should be.  Particularly when it all plays out more or less like you’d expect it would – tragedies and triumphs all.

This series does still have one incredible thing going for it:  Nathan Fox’s art.  “The Weather Man” has been an incredible showcase for his talents, and that remains true here.  Each page of this miniseries is packed full of incredible detail that makes this world and its characters feel that much more convincing.  There are also some real dramatic scenes that Fox sells incredibly well and a ton of action scenes that play out with an amazing intensity to them.  Is it all enough to make vol. 3 feel like a worthy finish to this series?  No, but I can at least say that I don’t regret buying all three volumes and am at least hoping for something better if Lehup and Fox team up again in the future.