Image Comics’ Vindication No. 3 review: Chip and Turn fight it out

Turn and Chip come face to face with their past and present, but there’s another mystery to solve. Who is behind the current crop of murders in Vindication No. 3?

Vindication No. 3

Writer: MD Marie

Pencils: Carlos Miko

Inks: Dema Jr.

Vindication No. 3 cover (Credit: Image Comics)

At the end of the previous issue of Vindication, Turn confronted Chip. In Vindication No. 3, their conflict becomes personal. These two have a history that goes way beyond Turn’s arrest at Chip’s hands 10 years ago. What neither seems to understand is that their hate for each other has repercussions – are they ready to face them?

There is more at play than this battle, though. Someone is trying to frame Turn for the new murders of members of his jury. Who is it, and what are they after? With only one issue left in the series, all parties concerned have everything to lose. Who will be vindicated in the eyes of the reader after issue No. 4?

Vindication has had its ups and downs in its limited run. It’s too on the nose with its intent but continues to struggle with giving its premise any justice. Issue No. 3 begins with Shakes, one of the IA detectives investigating Chip, vehemently defending the systemic racism that has resulted in so many black people being unfairly killed. It’s her white colleague who addresses this problem. Shakes’ insistence that people like Chip are given the benefit of the doubt is infuriating – it doesn’t seem believable that Shakes would be that blinkered, especially given that she is a cop herself.

The fact that Shakes’ viewpoint may be skewed by the long history between herself and Chip is down to the structure of Vindication No. 3. We learned in the previous issue that Chip and Shakes carried on a clandestine affair not so long ago, but there’s more to their relationship than that. Writer MD Marie attempts to eke out these little details slowly, but it ends up in doing the characterizations of the characters no justice. It’s hard to understand their motivations when their actions speak before their words.

What’s especially concerning is how Turn’s actions in this installment will impact him in the finale. Turn needlessly attacking a person seems to be out of character for him so, unless other characters decide to turn over a new leaf, Turn has probably made matters much worse for himself.

Vindication No. 3 (Credit: Image Comics)

The mystery part of this issue was the most interesting, but once again, it is delivered in such a ham-handed manner. Is there a twist in the offing? Because at the moment, it seems like the creative team have played all their cards.

Vindication No. 3 does have some hard-hitting moments that bring to light its central premise – the treatment of Turn when he was arrested are particularly difficult panels to read. The art team’s restraint in depicting the violence committed must be commended. Far too often, it seems entertainment media revels in its depictions of violence against minority communities but here, Carlos Miko, Dema Jr. and Thiago Goncalves leave most of the violence to the reader’s imagination. Also, juxtaposing Turn’s recollection with Chip getting beaten up gets the message across.

How effective is Vindication? It seems rushed and messy, attempting to cram in too much when the story should have been streamlined. Why couldn’t the editors just make a series about systemic racism and police brutality? Instead, there are undercurrents between an ever-expanding cast of characters, much of which is undermining the main theme of the series. Vindication had so much potential, but it has squandered it from the get-go. How disappointing.