In this review of Synthetics Volume One #3, Nick and Denny get closer to breaking their case, while Dr. Montoya tries to bring his synthetics to life. Will they all succeed?
Synthetics Volume One #3
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Art and Main Cover: Tony Parker
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: January 7, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Synthetics Volume One #3 begins with Nick Ellis jacked into the Void, watching / participating in a movie, because he’s struggling to sleep. The movie is a version of Romeo and Juliet, but allows Nick to feel what the characters are feeling. It reminds him of the fact that the world is ending in a decade.
Meanwhile, Yuri and Dr. Montoya are trying to figure out a way to stop Blake Wohl from covering the birthing of the synthetics. Montoya is worried that it’s a bad idea any way it goes and that her attending the birthing must be prevented. Yuri finally agrees and will take care of it. After that’s decided, Montoya is ready to test whether or not the first synthetic can breathe on its own. After three tense minutes of no life signs, the synthetic inhales sharply and comes to life.
Nick and Denny lead a raid into one of the brain tissue neural factories. After blasting their way in, they’re confronted with an AI defense system that puts up a good fight, but the cops are eventually able to destroy it. They gain access to the inner labs that house the illegal human brain tissue and find files pointing to Yuri. Nick makes the call to destroy the tissue.
The story cuts to Blake walking down an alley, where two guys pull guns on her, presumably on Yuri’s orders. Unfortunately, they don’t realize that Blake’s bees are more than just surveillance drones. They carry toxins and attack the hitmen. Blake realizes the deal she brokered to cover the birthing has been changed, but vows to cover it anyway.
After the raid, Nick and Denny go to a bar, trying to figure out why Montoya would be interested in trying to create something that will be dead in ten years with the rest of humanity. Denny wonders if it’s a sign that there’s hope for the future. At the end of their discussion, the issue concludes, as we see the synthetic in its amniotic tank opening its eyes.
Analysis
Synthetics Volume One #3 revolves around the ideas of hope and love in a situation where neither of those seem to matter much. In less than three issues, J. Michael Straczynski has built a world that’s pretty hopeless to this point because everyone knows they’ve got no more than ten years to live.
The main question at the end of Synthetics Volume One #3 is whether or not the synthetics truly can be the hope that the world needs. There are other examples of hope scattered about the issue. Yuri hopes that the synthetic will breathe, as it reminds him of his daughter. Nick hopes to find a remnant of his dad in the Void, after his dad died while jacked in years ago. Everyone has something they’re clinging to, even in dire times.
With only one issue left to go, I feel that there’s a lot left to cover and the last issue is going to need to be pretty tight to get everything in to close out the story. I would have preferred to see this mini-series be five or six issues in order to have more time to develop. The pacing is fine and easy to follow, but this world is interesting and deserves to be explored further. I’d presume (and hope!) there will be more mini-series to follow, based on the title of the book.
Tony Parker continues to produce some great pages through Synthetics Volume One #3. My favorites were those during the raid on the neural factory. Another good panel comes a short time later when we get to see through the eyes of Blake’s drones. The variety of angles and expressions we see of the hitmen and Blake packs a lot of story detail into a quarter of a page. Carrie Strachan’s color usage remains a strong point of the book. It’s easy to tell the change in scenes just through the use of a variety of colors. Your eyes don’t have a chance to get bored as they move from one page to the next.
Final Thoughts
Synthetics Volume One #3 delivers a mix of action and drama in a nice little sci-fi package. I’m looking forward to seeing if the synthetics can provide hope to a hopeless world. If you’ve missed this title so far, it’s a short one to collect and worth the read. Have fun, comic lovers!
