Advance Review: Saint Chaos #3

Written by: Laura Hong-Tuason, CC2K Comics Editor

In two days, Simon Monroe will die. Time is running out to find his mother’s killer and he is fed up with all the BS being thrown his way. If you think you’ve already seen the extent of his psychotic rampage, think again. He’s only just begun, with Saint Chaos #3 being the tipping point.

Writer: Noah Dorsey
Illustrator: Zsombor Huszka

The opening of Saint Chaos #3 shows Simon has no time to lose as he storms into the hideout of the gang known as the Horoscopes for the second time of the day. He demands the whereabouts of Michael, a member who has information linking to his mother’s death. The Horoscopes are illustrated as a pathetic joke; brainless low-tier criminals who engage in breaking and entering. The dialogue Simon has with them is excruciating, as the Horoscopes spew out the most explicit language and lingo ever that even other criminals would scoff at. Fortunately Simon is a straight shooter, immediately scuffing and shutting each low life up in the knick of time. His apathetic, yet witty and blunt personality was welcomed with sweet vengeance.

Meanwhile, a pair of high-tier criminals a part of the underground crime ring that has hired psychopath killer, Honeycomb, to do their dirty work is up to no good. What they’re up to and what they’re using Honeycomb for is still a mystery. However a man named Gem, the liaison, isn’t happy with their collusion with Honeycomb. In fact, he’s furious, which means this collaboration probably won’t end well.

In the next scene, readers are taken to the location of the punk kid, Michael. Revelations are made that would enrage Simon if he were around to hear it. Instead readers take the hit for him, growing an animosity for such low-life criminals. Then when you think you couldn’t hate the bastards even more, you do, when readers are shifted back to Simon’s point of view.

With a firm objective in mind, Simon enters what I can only describe as a sketchy underground gambling ring in which the players cash in their winnings in exchange for a disturbingly graphic and violent time, with women who have had their vocal chords purposely removed and their eyes surgically blinded. Awful! Unsettling description by a minor character aside (thankfully no actual images), it gets to the point where you really want Simon to go nuclear. What do you say about a comic in which you root for the miserable guy who wants to end his own life, but beats the crap out of those you are too ashamed to call human beings? Conflictingly addictive!

As Simon makes his way through this underground ring, he’ll discover the answers he’s been seeking for quite some time. Everything is connected and just as he thinks he’ll hear what he wants to hear, everything goes south. Why? Because he’s Simon Monroe and his life absolutely sucks.

Simon Monroe is a very complex character, and Saint Chaos #3 is a tribute to this wildly conflicted persona. He is one who wavers between life and death, benevolence and vindictiveness, and indifference and conviction. While he can be a suicidal and troubled man, he is surprisingly calm and collected in the face of danger and justice. Put together with the art, which has greatly improved , issue #3 greatly captures the complexity of the man readers have come to know as Simon Monroe.

Now why was his mother killed? Who is the mysterious criminal mastermind behind it all? And what will happen when Honeycomb upholds his promise to kill Simon in two more days? All will hopefully be unveiled in the final issue of Saint Chaos #4.

Saint Chaos #3 will be out soon and can be ordered from er-studios.com. For more information, follow @thenoahdorsey on Twitter for the latest updates.