In this review of Skinbreaker #3, Anok faces challenges from beasts and tribesmen alike. How will he handle being tested in his old age?
Skinbreaker #3
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Art and Main Cover: David Finch
Variant Covers: David Finch, Tony Moore, Eric Canete, Lorenzo De Felici
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: November 26, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Skinbreaker #3 opens with Anok bringing home a fresh kill for the night’s feast. He and Thul have a short discussion and we find out that Paca is Thul’s son (something that was in question after Skinbreaker #2). Anok then has a conversation with his son, Emom, who is sad about not being able to join his father’s hunts. Emom has proven his worth, though, as he has devised a system to bring water to the village.
At the night’s feast, Anok and his wife, Dala, talk about the fact that there is more for him to accomplish, but he’s now at the age Enor was when Anok challenged him. Anok then goes up the cliffs to visit Enor’s grave, wishing that the old chieftain was still alive and fearing that his former leader looks down on him in shame for not being strong enough.
Coming back down the mountain, Anok is surprised by a silver fang creature attack, but is able to escape death by luring the beast over the edge of a cliff. Hearing screams from the village, he rushes back to find another silver fang attacking his tribe. He jumps onto the beast’s back, but is flung off. Paca is there to kill the beast before Anok can recover.
Anok tries to get Paca to realize that the silver fang creatures have grown smarter and are now hunting them. He says that they’ll have to set traps to safeguard the village, but Paca says that he will be there to protect the tribe. Paca makes challenge of Anok’s leadership. Anok tries to convince him to reconsider, but when Paca calls him a coward, he begrudgingly accepts the challenge.
Analysis
Robert Kirkman is moving the story along at a solid pace. Anok and Paca look to be fighting to the death in the next issue, but it’s hard to tell for sure which way that will go. Kirkman has already shown that he doesn’t mind jumping the story ahead by many years, so it’s possible that Anok could be killed off. I don’t believe that will happen, though, as one of the big themes of these issues has been the need for the tribe to make progress and change from the old ways. Now that the challenge has been made, Anok needs to stay alive without killing Paca in order for change to happen. It will be interesting to see how the story progresses from here. I like the overall pacing.
Kirkman also continues to do well with bringing out the emotions of the characters. Even though Anok is old, he struggles with sadness and regret that he hasn’t been able to find a successor like Enor found in him. In the same issue, Anok shows pride in his son’s work and restraint with Thul’s constant bickering.
The artwork from David Finch continues to look incredible. There’s a splash page about halfway through Skinbreaker #3 that looks magnificent. It has Anok by Enor’s grave backed by moons and stars. With the number of silver fang creatures in Skinbreaker #3, the amount of detail on each page is off the charts. It’s not to say that the first two issues didn’t have detail, but this one takes it up a notch. Finch puts so much time and effort into each panel and page and I love turning each page to see what’s next. The colors by Annalisa Leoni compliment the art perfectly. If you’re able to get a treasury edition of this title, do so, because it all looks even better in the bigger version.
Final Thoughts
Skinbreaker #3 continues to impress in both story and artwork. With five issues remaining, there’s still a lot of story left to go and it will be exciting to see which path Kirkman takes. Have fun, comic lovers!
