In this review of Death of Copra #3, Michel Fiffe continues to ramp up the action in the penultimate issue of the series.
Death of Copra #3
Written and Drawn by Michel Fiffe
Main Cover: Michel Fiffe
Variant Covers: Michel Fiffe, Kenny Wroten
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: March 12, 2025
Michel Fiffe continues to ramp up the action in the penultimate issue of Death of Copra. While Fiffe continues to deliver on excellent art and high octane action that feels effortless and spontaneous, it suffers from some perplexing pacing. However, as far as mixed bags go, the art and page layouts are worth the eyebrow raising moments.
Death of Copra #3 opens much the same as the last issue, as Gracie and Shabbs discuss the prospects of quitting the team to return to civilian life. Just as the pair exits Copra HQ, does Rax and the incognito DyDy enter, doing their best to remain inconspicuous, in order to head Guthie and Thornax off at the pass. The Detroit team leader Roger gives Sonia a heads up that the Ochizon’s are headed her way to retrieve their fellow aliens from captivity in the super secret “Section Z”.
Copra is reassembled for what might be their last job: protect Section Z at any cost. Things get heated as Rax, DyDy, Guthie, Thornax and Copra arrive simultaneously in the sublevels of Copra HQ. A three-way brawl breaks out and in the skirmish it’s discovered that Copra has been hiding and experimenting on Ochizons . Before the battle can come to a decisive end, Guthie and Thornax are teleported to the location of a mysterious cloaked figure…
Fiffe continues to top himself with the graphical elements in the book. The sequence depicting each of the remaining Copra members at home is inspired. Long, color coded, vertical panels capture beautifully simple portraits and emotionality. Similarly, action and figures are stunning. Rax in particular is immaculately rendered with bulging “90’s-extreme” muscles and whirling, sinewy, particle effects.
There’s a beautiful double page splash that contrasts both pairs of conflicting extraterrestrial contractors. The reveal of the captive Ochizon’s being experimented on in full Alien Autopsy display is effectively shocking, and is brilliantly and poetically alluded to at in the first panel of the book. The tragedy felt by Guthie and Rax is genuine and heartfelt. That’s not to say it’s all flash and no substance, Fiffe’s use of bird’s eye perspective in the early section of the book sells the isolation as the team has already began to fracture and break apart.
And of course, what is a Michel Fiffe comic without its beautiful coloring? The mixed media on display in Death of Copra #3 in particular are delightful, with splashes and smears of melted, wax crayon in place of flats giving a distinct flair unseen in today’s usual, digitally colored comics.
The plotting in Death of Copra #3 is uneven in comparison to the previous two, which can largely be attributed to some confusing blocking. The timeline of how long it takes the group to receive the call to assemble from their homes and being on base to defend versus how long it takes the Alien groups to arrive through the front door reads inconsistent. Copra just kind of appears in in the sub level ready to confront both groups of alien attackers, with no indication how long or from where they came.
Gracie’s appearance here is particularly jarring, as in the beginning of Death of Copra #3 she is discussing her potential career options as Rax and DyDy enter HQ, she’s later shown lounging at home when she receives Sonia’s distress call, then is back at HQ shortly after Rax and DyDy have broken into Section Z. Understandably, it’s a 4 issue mini, so plotting needs to be fast. That being said, so much of the last two issues were dedicated less to plot and more to reestablishing character dynamics, it makes one wonder if the scripting for the series overall could’ve used another pass.
Death of Copra #3, while so far the most action heavy and animated of the series, is also the most messy in terms of plotting. However, the hand of the author outweighs most of the faults this book brings. The “Make it Cool” ethos Fiffe has adopted since his work on Bloodstrike Brutalists may have its drawbacks when it comes to making complete sense, but there’s enough sweat equity on the page and considered design that make those drawbacks easier to swallow.
