The Couriers, Volume 3: The Ballad of Johnny Funwrecker

The Couriers #3

by Brian Wood, Rob G (Illustrator)

Book Three in the Couriers saga hits the rewind button on the lives of everybody's two favorite urban mercenary couriers and goes back, way back, to 1993. Moustafa's a dirtbag grunge kid selling weed by the cube at Astor Place, and Special's a riot grrrl with a mean streak, looking to carve a place for herself in the criminal underworld. How do these two unlikely partners meet up and become the tight-knit team they are now? Meet Johnny Funwrecker, the hilarious larger-than-life Chinatown mob boss and role model for little street rat hooligans all over.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Thriller, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

88 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 2005

About the author

Brian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.

From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.

His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.

He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need no more proof that this series is mediocre. The preparation is fine, but the action is putting me to sleep. Paradoxical really. The artwork was never much to look at and only helped to put the comic in the ground. Maybe it's just some artsy-fartsy niche thing I can't appreciate. Or maybe it's crap. Either way, it's done. Good riddance!

Back when Special was only 15 she was just as deadly. She helps out a Triad boss named Johnny Funwrecker in a shootout and gets hired as his personal driver. Moustafa is a petty drug pusher with eyes on the big leagues. He also wants to work for Johnny and gives up his parents' stash of heroin for it.

Moustafa is paired with Special, to her surprise. She trains him in street smarts, tactics, weapon handling, then reveals the existence of Hot Sauce. She does jobs for him on the side, since she can't advance much farther in Johnny's mysoginistic organization. She alys planned to betray Johnny and this is her chance. She convinces Johnny's couriers to turn on him. After killing Johnny himself, Special and Moustafa are caught by the FBI and sent to juvie hall. They return to the street harder and smarter than ever before.

[Krishnakumar Mohanasundaram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average album again..
This volume takes us to the past and shows us the first meet up between Mustafa and Special.
Introduced as henchmen to gangster Johnny funwrecker, the album soon manages to wreck the fun in us.

[Steve Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second Couriers TPB I have read and both have been fun quick reads.

Love these quirky action series and this prequel delivered nicely.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A return to The Couriers Volume 1's level of energy & quality, this book (the 3rd of the series) is actually a prequel to the first book. The story takes place in 1993, a full ten years before the events of "The Couriers".

We first meet Special, a street-smart and weapon-savvy 15-year old girl who becomes a gangster's bodyguard (the titular Johnny Funwrecker), before meeting Moustafa, a pot-dealing 12-year old, smart but bored, with ultra-rich but absent parents.

Moustafa actually seeks out Johnny to work for him and, after proving himself, is put under Special's tutelage, later becoming a full-fledged courier, complete with handguns. This is also the story of how the two become partners, screw over Johnny and disband his army of couriers, the latter becoming free-lancers.

Fun, fun, fun!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This COURIERS volume is perhaps my favorite of the series. This is essentially the COURIERS origin story, with lots of action and a particularly interesting villain in Johnny Funwrecker, a Chinese gang leader with a bizarre, violent and horny personality. Rob G. pushes his art style to the max, though he isn't as strong of an artist as other Brian Wood collaborators, he draws action well, and makes the characters visually come alive.

[Sam McCanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

comics,crime,drama

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prequel of the couriers reveals how Moustafa and Special first came to work with each other, and for each other. Good stuff all around.

[Zanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

12.95