We3

We3
Publication information
Publisher Vertigo Comics
Schedule Monthly
Format Mini-series
Publication date 2004
Number of issues 3
Main character(s) 1 (Bandit)
2 (Tinker)
3 (Pirate)
Creative team
Writer(s) Grant Morrison
Artist(s) Frank Quitely
Jamie Grant
Letterer(s) Todd Klein
Collected editions
We3 ISBN 1-4012-0495-3

We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.

Plot

We3, a squad of three prototype "animal weapons," are a government project headed by Dr. Rosanne Berry and her superior Doctor Trendle. The group consists of a dog, "Bandit" a.k.a. "1"; a cat, "Tinker" a.k.a. "2"; and a rabbit, "Pirate" a.k.a. "3", who were all kidnapped from a nearby city and encased in robotic armor. They were also given a limited ability to speak through skull implants. Their body armor fields numerous weapons, including mine laying devices, machine guns and razor claws.

After the president makes a visit to the facility to see the project, he congratulates the team only to decide afterwards to decommission the group. Berry, unwilling to end the lives of the three animals, instead sets them loose hoping to be killed in the process, however to her surprise they leave her alive. She is later taken into custody by the government while Trendle works closely to recapture We3.

We3 escape into the wild and confused by their new surroundings decide to look for "HOME". They are later found and chased by the military, but they manage to brutally kill them all thanks to their cybernetic enhancements. Trendle decides to send his cybernetic enhanced rats telling Berry that if that doesn't work they will use her to lure We3 back. While fighting the rats on a bridge, Pirate drops several landmines after spotting an oncoming train. The mines explode causing the train to get derailed and fall into the lake below. Bandit attempts to rescue the conductor, but Tinker points out he is already dead and Pirate is nowhere to be seen.

Bandit and Tinker manage to find Pirate, but is in a confrontation with a family who mistake it for an alien. Pirate ends up getting shot in the head by the father damaging his speech. Bandit and Tinker angered kill the father and the family's dog, but leave the boy alive. Realizing that the situation is getting far worse, the military send out We4, an enhanced pit bull, against the wishes of Berry.

We3 take refuge in a homeless man's domain and gain his sympathy. The homeless man encounters the military who escort him from the area, but claims that he didn't see anything. The military unleash We4 who kills Pirate by detonating him. Berry arrives to call Bandit and she tells him his real name. As the snipers prepare to take out Bandit, Berry jumps in the way sacrificing herself. Enraged Bandit and Tinker both brutally attack We4 and end up on the highway. As We4 begins to attack a police officer, Bandit rescues him and the military terminate We4.

Bandit and Tinker escape and shed their armor. Trendle manages to find them and having had a change of heart removes the remaining cybernetic enhancements from them. Trendle then speaks out against the government's actions and is revealed to have given the now normal Bandit and Tinker to the homeless man. As he compliments how well behaved the animals are, Trendle gives hundreds of dollars to the homeless man before walking up the steps of the courthouse to a crowd of reporters.

Collected editions

The mini-series has been collected as a trade paperback:[1] titled We3 (104 pages, Vertigo, 2005 ISBN 1-4012-0495-3).

In 2011, a deluxe hardcover edition was released consisting of 144 pages.[2]

Adaptations

Film

In 2006, New Line Cinema optioned We3 as a film project with Morrison attached as screenwriter. The script was completed in 2006, and Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Rick Benattar remain attached as producers with the film currently in development. If the film is made, the cybernetic animals would be completely computer-generated.[3][4]

On December 9, 2008, it was reported that John Stevenson, director of Kung Fu Panda was attached to the project as a director, and that New Line Cinema was no longer involved.[5]

On March 7, 2015, when asked during an impromptu Facebook Q&A on what other comic book movie he would like to make, James Gunn expressed interest in We3.[6]

References

  1. ↑ We3 at Vertigo
  2. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/We3-Deluxe-Edition-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401230679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363378292&sr=8-1&keywords=we3
  3. ↑ New Line takes on We3 killer cuties, Variety, June 7, 2005
  4. ↑ THE BEAT » Grant Morrison
  5. ↑ Turek, Ryan. "Stevenson Attached to Direct Comic Adaptation We3" Shock Till You Drop. December 8, 2008
  6. ↑ James Gunn Facebook Impromptu Q&A, 2015 March 7

External links

Reviews

Criticism

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