Comics Review: Steven Universe #3

Despite the variant-cover, the story in this comic isn’t even about Garnet or Steven…

When the local business owners of Beach City start to feel the economic slow-down during the tourist off-season, Mayor Dewey and his son Buck come up with a solution in the form of a “Food Truck Rally”. While their solution seemed well intentioned, it consequently affected the other restaurant establishments native to Beach City as Nanefua from “Fish Pizza”, Mr. Fryman from “Beach Citywalk Fries”, Lars and Sadie from “The Big Donut” voice their concerns to the Mayor at how counter-productive their solution was. Later as an apology, the Mayor starts an “Off-Season Community Picnic” mending things with the Beach City restaurant owners in the process.

Our Take

With art by Katy Farina, writing by Melanie Gillman and colors by Whitney Cogar, the story itself manages to capture the essence of the show, there were a lot of pages that had very little dialogue but visually told a story and anyone who has actually watched Steven Universe knows that most of the storylines aren’t always focused on the titular Steven or the Gems but the town’s inhabitants and their everyday lives.

If there’s any lesson I got from this storyline, it’s that sometimes it takes a mutual understanding and a sense of community to make business relationships work. Part of me wishes the issue could’ve been longer but Boom! Studios managed to capture the essence of the show without Rebecca Sugar at the helm which in a way assures its fanbase that the show’s spirit even on printed paper is still in good hands.