The playful, innocent nature of the characters continues to stand out as this property's greatest asset. There seems to be an unending potential in the concept of science fiction, fantasy and Western genres colliding in a quaint, close-knit community, and Dini and Bone have certainly made the most of it. Still, while this was a fun issue, it seemed to spin its wheels a little, stretching the story longer than necessary.
After discovering that a local Mutant, Texas family has gone missing like other townsfolk, Ida Red, Rolly and the mayor go searching for clues as to their whereabouts in the Moanin' Mesa, but they happen upon something nasty... but maybe not the culprit they've been after. Meanwhile, one of Ida's friends turns to Sheriff Brunt for help, unaware that he's at the heart of the trouble that looms on the town's horizon.
Bone's flair for character design continues to shine in this series. We're introduced to a few new characters here, and they're just as endearing as those that came before. The cast is rather expansive, but there's no problem following along thanks to Bone's clear layouts. Well, save for one scene. The climactic scene in this issue is a little sketchy at times, and an important transformation isn't entirely clear on the final page.
There is a problem with this issue, though, and that's the fact that we've seen most of this material already. The second issue served to fill the reader in on what was going on, but here, we have to watch Ida Red and company learn on their own. It makes for a repetitive couple of issues. Sure, new characters are introduced, but the plot itself isn't advance until the last couple of pages.
Though the plot is a bit on the cornball side at times, the notion of the people of Mutant sticking together and looking out for one another is appealing. Dini has injected a real sense of community here, and it justifies giving the town top billing in the title. There's a well thought-out sense of history and heritage at play here that makes it easy to immerse oneself in the fantastic and cute citizenry.
