Jericho Season 3 - Civil Wars: Issue #6

Synopsis (SPOILER ALERT): Mr. Palmer (going under the assumed name of Thompson which is sewn on his uniform) is dispatched by Director Valente to Jericho to apprehend Robert Hawkins and David Reynolds/John Smith. The Hummer he is traveling in, though, is intercepted by Constantino and his men, and all except Palmer are killed. Meanwhile, Jake and Hawkins are nearing Jericho and they debate what information they should divulge about Reynolds (aka John Smith). Hawkins says that they should tell Major Beck that Reynolds has vital information about the involvement of Jennings & Rall in the nuclear attacks but insists that they not divulge any information on Reynolds’ own complicity. Once back in Jericho, Beck reveals information to Jake, Hawkins, and Reynolds about commanders who have pledged to aid in the resistance against the A.S.A. Beck then takes Reynolds to a video conference with several of these commanders where Reynolds reveals that J&R plans on crossing into United States territory (with U.N. approval) to give aid to the town of Vicksburg Mississippi which is desperately in need of supplies because of an influx of refugees from Texas. The A.S.A. believe that a violent uprising will follow shortly giving them an excuse to launch bombing raids along the Mississippi river. The hope is that this will demoralize the population and lead Columbus to a decision to surrender to the A.S.A. The commanders want Reynolds to hand over the intelligence on how to break into the J&R system, but he turns them down saying that only he is capable of doing what they need. He will infiltrate the system and disrupt the satellite communications that would be used to coordinate the drone bombing raids.
Meanwhile in New Bern, Constantino’s men are questioning Palmer, but the agent breaks free and quickly turns the situation around on his captors, killing all but Constantino. Back in Jericho, Jake reunites with his friends and family and Hawkins returns home to find that his daughter has left and joined up with the aid workers. After Jake has his joyful reunion, he begins to ponder on the situation more and decides it’s best to approach Beck and come clean about Reynolds. Hawkins stands in his way, though, and the two come to blows until Jake once again agrees to remain silent. Meanwhile, Reynolds hacks into the J&R system getting the information on the satellites and allowing the resistance commanders to send operatives to take them down. Jake and Hawkins arrive at Beck’s office just as this operation has been completed. Back in New Bern, Palmer plans to use Constantino to get him into Jericho and infiltrate the resistance forces. And with this, the sixth issue of this six issue mini-series comes to a close with “to be continued . . .” More on that in the comments below.

Comments: The Jericho comic book series continues with yet another excellent issue that moves the story into high gear as all of the plotlines come together for the final resolution of the tale. But just as I was turning the last few pages and wondering how they could possibly wrap this up in the current issue I see: “to be continued”. And that will follow in Jericho Season 4, due out August 2012. See my synopsis and comments on Issue #1 of that series at this link. 

Anyway, back to Issue #6. As I said, this was another excellent installment even if it did feel a bit rushed and did gloss over several parts too quickly. I’m not quite certain I understood why an outbreak of violence would crop on in Vicksburg, MS after the J&R aid would arrive (maybe because they lent the support the U.S. had reneged on?) and why bombing raids along the Mississippi river would demoralize the population and lead Columbus to surrender. But again, I think they are rushing through some of the explanations because they have to cram so much into only a few issues. It really would be great if this did turn into an ongoing title (Season 4 is also scheduled as a 6 issue mini-series) because maybe then they would have the luxury of slowing the pace down a bit and filling in some of the loose ends. In any case, this issue keeps the quality up, we just have to be glad now that we have not been left hanging on this story for a fourth time (after the Season 1 cancellation, Season 2 cancellation, and Devil’s Due mishaps).