Crowded, Vol. 3: Cutting-Edge Desolation

Crowded #3

by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein (Illustrator), Ted Brandt (Illustrator)

Fired and ditched by Charlie, Vita sets off in hot pursuit of her former client and some answers. But Charlie’s not alone. She’s hired a brand new bodyguard, Circe, unaware she’s a killer who has been stalking Charlie since her crowdfunded assassination campaign began.

As this catastrophic throuple cat-and-mouses its way across America, feelings and knives and secrets will come out, including who started Charlie’s Reapr campaign and why everyone wants her dead. All leading to a bloody showdown with the shadowy group responsible for turning Charlie’s murder into a viral sensation.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, LGBT, Science Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Action

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 2022

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's this thing you see happen a lot with US sitcoms, where they start out small and cultlike, and then they get popular after a couple of seasons, and the makers of the sitcom start to buy into their own hype, and the sitcom starts to completely focus on the characters' relationships, and all other bits of plot and story ideas are forgotten, basically turning the series into fanfic.

That's what it feels like what happened to Crowded. So you get a volume full of character exposition, people babbling to each other about their relationships, a baddy suddenly turning good, characters' personalities and voices all sloshing over into each other, partly because everyone uses the same quippy language, all cartoonily making a mad dash towards the end to rake the whole thing into some kind of coherence.

All the people that were hunting Charlie are still there squawking in the background, but they don't matter anymore. Most of the worldbuilding dissipates.

If you're expecting some new surprises, some fresh twists - nope, there aren't any. Things happen that behave like twists, they even look like twists, but they're so transparent it beggars belief (I, for one, can't believe anyone would fall for a particular ruse towards the end).

A plot that basically hinges on a character being able to use password recovery.

At least the dog finally gets a name.

(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)

[Kadi P · Rating 3 out of 5]

A whole bunch of bizarre character relationship twists coupled with a highly underwhelming reveal and happily ever after ending. It was a shame to see a comic that started out so well deflate so quickly.

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

on the whole i think the series tailed off after the first volume, like this was still fun, but vols 2 & 3 could easily have been condensed imo

Rep: bi/pan mc, Black lesbian mc, Black sapphic side character, Black East Asian (?) side character

CWs: violence, gore, murder

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think vol. 2 fell off for me, but I liked the series overall. Adding Circe to the mix really turned things around for me cuz that was also the point where Charlie started to develop further as a character 2 and the relationship between them and Vita was very fun.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This final(?) volume of Crowded was good, the ending was exciting.
But it was a slog to get started. The first few chapters were just recaps of the previous two volumes for those that for some reason started here at the finish. Worst of all the recap was not done quickly as in the previous volumes. Here we actually all but re-enact the recap with so much dialog. The dialog is just not that interesting (have I mentioned it was just recap?) and people are still angry at each other. It was just drama.

Then they arrive in Oklahoma and I have relatives that currently live in that state and it is just about as bad as advertised. So what happens to Oklahoma in this world is great. The other would building was interesting and we could have had more of that.

Then for "reasons" everyone is getting along and the gang gathers and takes care of the bad guys. This was actually really well done and satisfying. We could use more of the nerd gang at the comic book shop. But that is it the story abruptly ends, the epilogue is two pages and unsatisfactory considering how much talking and world building got us to that point.

[Alex Sarll]

The worldbuilding continues to feel more like a comedy sketch that's got out of hand than something internally coherent, but that's less of an issue this time out, as at least until the denouement the satire on whatever the fuck the internet has become is dialled down in favour of an increasingly messy tangle of disaster queers not being sure whether they want to have each other, be each other, or kill each other, and engaging in occasional gun and knife fights with each other while they work it out. Obviously, none of that is remotely a complaint as far as I'm concerned, although I do have another quibble: at least in my Edelweiss ARC, there were some lettering glitches, with a few speech bubbles either entirely unattributed or pointed at the wrong characters.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as conclusions go, it was a bit of a let down.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crowded is probably Sebela's best work yet. It's absolutely hilarious, but it also has a serious satiric message.

[Rowen H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was more about buff women than the actual plot, but I'm not mad about it, and it wrapped up nicely. Had fun, would recommend.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volumes 1 and 2 were brilliant. This volume is merely good. Very good? Yes. Very good. It’s hard to land a series.
The main thing that bothered me was the resolution to the other bodyguard. Felt too easy. For a series where nothing else felt easy.
But, honestly, the biggest problem was following the stellar first two parts. So I’m still giving it 4 stars based on the series overall which I’m glad got an ending.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrapped up really nicely. So much better than the train wreck that was Volume 2.

[Ameema S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a straight up good time!

[Trike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ending was demented and perfect. Loved every bit of it.

Especially once they named the dog Doug.

[Hesbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this series Stockholmed me into liking it the more I read.
The art kept getting better so that even if the story was meh, it was pretty to look at.
3/5 problematic lesbians

[Emily✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol. 1: Soft Apocalypse ★★★★☆
Vol. 2: Glitter Dystopia ★★★★☆
Vol. 3: Cutting-Edge Desolation ★★★★☆ (3.5)

I liked this concluding a volume a bit less than the previous two, but still found it to be a fun, chaotic, high-octane ride. Love all the queerness, love the dystopic satire, love the wild heist. Wish there'd been more of Charlie in the epilogue, or just a longer epilogue in general. The characterization (especially of Vita) seemed a bit weak in comparison to the rest of the series, but it's been a while since I read the first two volumes so I could be misremembering. I'm going to try to do a full series re-read sometime soon. Would love for Crowded to get a TV/film adaptation!

"So your evil master plan endgame is, what... Nothing changes, bad people stay in power, same as it always was."
"Well, yeah. What do you think the government does?"

My advanced digital copy had some missing or misappropriated speech bubbles, which I assume will be fixed in the finished copy.

TW: violence, recreational drug use, captivity

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this felt like watching an MCU movie where in the third act everything turns into one big punch-em-up CGI thing where the villain motive collapses and it's all flash and bang with no substance. It's still got fun moments, with some fantastic art and some funny quips, but it also felt so very bland. "Government bad, social media bad, action scenes good" yeah yeah yeah sure whatever I got all that in the first issue, this is just riding it out.

[Dev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this and thought it was a great end to the series. I was a bit worried about adding another main character at this point in the story but I think she worked really well with our original duo and they all played off each other in a really fun and entertaining way. Would definitely recommend this series to people who like stories with awesome female characters and a lot of action.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe it took me a whole year to sit down and read Crowded Volume 3. This series has been an absolute blast, and I'm sad to see it go. But I knew the ending was going to be worth the read. If you haven't checked this series out but enjoy action, comedy, and drama, you're missing out!

Last we saw, Charlie and Vita hit their roughest point yet – which is saying something. Charlie decided it was a good idea to fire Vita, despite the numerous people trying to kill her. The new bodyguard probably made that decision feel a bit safer.

Enter Circe. She's an assassin pretending to be a bodyguard. She clearly wants to get close to these two – the question is, why? Read on and find out!

Writing

Crowded Volume 3 is a whirlwind of a read. We've got a bit of everything, action, drama, humor – dog-naming, the works. It's a chaotic balance, but it is balanced. Christopher Sebela did a fantastic job of creating characters that are both incredibly annoying but endearing.

For example, I know that I wouldn't be capable of putting up with Charlie in real life, but I'll miss reading about her. The strong contrast between personalities helped to heighten the mix of drama and humor, with a dash of will-they-won't-they.

Crowded quickly became one of my favorite series because of the way it made me laugh. This third volume is no exception. It shocked me into laughing on more than one occasion. I'll confess that I may have forced my husband to read a page or two because I found it too delightful not to share (obviously, he didn't get why I was crying with laughter).

There are several massive twists in Crowded Volume 3. I won't ruin them – don't worry. But I will say that they were pretty well done. You can see a couple of them on the horizon, so when they finally do occur, it makes sense and fits into the larger world.

All things said and done; I will miss this chaotic group. Vita, Charlie, Circe, and their dog (who finally got a name!). Thanks for all the laughs.

Art

The good news is that the artwork Crowded Volume 3 is just as brilliant as the writing. I do mean that. The art and writing go hand-in-hand in this series, and I don't think either would be quite so amazing without the other.

Ro Stein (art), Ted Brandt (art), Triona Farrell (colorist), Diana Sousa (colorist), and Cardinal Rae (letterer) went above and beyond for this volume. A LOT is happening on the pages. Sometimes it is literally just background mess, because the drama is at the forefront. It adds so much to the overall (intentionally) chaotic feeling.

I've got to admit that one of my absolute favorite elements about this artwork is the lettering. Crowded Volume 3 has some of the best lettering I've seen in a while. It's funny and fits in tone with everything else – which means it's also delightfully chaotic. More, please!

Conclusion

Crowded Volume 3 was everything I had hoped for, and perhaps a little bit more. It leaned heavily on personal drama and action, throwing jokes all over the place. In other words, it was perfect. I loved the artwork, character development, and conclusion. It is exactly what the fans deserved.

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[Bill Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a composite review of Crowded, Vol. 1-3.

Man, I do not understand the negative reviews I am reading for this, because I just blasted through all three volumes and utterly loved this story. I think it might point to reading series like this all at one go, rather than jumping in on the first trade paperback. Because while the first volume is a lot of fun, by the time it ends, it's just a grand introduction, and it's a little hard to judge the story on those merits alone. I think comics in general benefit from more complete readings by their critics, but that's probably better left for a rambling Substack post in the future. Anyway, onto the review.

In one of those "10 minutes into the future" settings where the gig economy appears to be the only economy, where damn near anything can be crowdsourced, and where high-caliber mayhem is never more than just a few downvotes away, Charlie - a hot mess of a nobody - gets tagged on REAPR, a kickstarter for assassination so popular that the cops don't even try to stop it anymore. Desperate to stay alive and in no way equipped to handle the nightmare she just brought down on herself, Charlie hires Vita, a burned out bodyguard to keep her alive for the next month.

What follows is an overcharged best frenemy story that often boils over into complete bedlam and ultimately becomes a fairly complicated romantic tangle of sorts as we learn more about who Vita really is and why Charlie's REAPR contract keeps attracting more and more contributors. This is a story where the writer and artists are completely in sync, and the visuals constantly dripfeed little worldbuilding details along the way. The setting is an overstuffed satire of social media, the gig economy, and late-stage capitalism in general, driven by some terrific chemistry between its main characters and an ongoing mystery as to exactly why all of this is really happening.

Just when we think we have this world figured out, we don't. And just when Charlie and Vita think they've got each other figured out, they don't. And just when it looks like there's an easy out of a nationwide REAPR contract, there isn't. Funny, furious, and flirty, Crowded is a heck of a ride.

[Liberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The weekend of quick reads has gone so fast and it's been so fun. Maybe it's just the last book I read was so rough that everything else feels amazing to read and enjoy. But I also just think this is a fun comic series. In this world, there's an app called Reapr where anyone can take a hit out on anyone else. All you need is more than one backer and you can crowdfund an assassination. But the campaign can only last 30 days so if they somehow survive, no one can ever take a hit out on them again and they're safe for the rest of their life. To try to make it to day 31, Charlotte hires a body guard named Vita on the app Dfnd.

I enjoyed how chaotic things got at the end of this series. Things are bigger and badder than ever. I loved getting down to the nitty gritty on both Charlotte's and Vita's histories. This was just an action packed adventure and I had such a fun time with this one. I had hit a dry spell with comics and so it was such a breath of fresh air to find one that I could really enjoy with characters I could truly love.

Overall, I think this is a great comic series for anyone getting started with comics. All of them got 4 stars from me so it's just as good, in my opinion, from start to finish. Now I just need to find more like this.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion to this wild series sticks the landing pretty well with a heist caper that while predictable, is nevertheless action packed. Plot threads are satisfactorily tied off. This is not just an empty headed action comedy. There are some serious speculations about social media and the surveillance society. The artwork is cartoony which fits the humorous tone it's going for. My biggest grumble is that there is no recap at the beginning to catch us up on the first two volumes, and since it's been a year since I read them there was some fuzziness in the first part of this volume. Definitely read all three volumes together if possible, and I think you'll enjoy it a lot. Or wait for the inevitable movie or TV mini-series.

[alexander shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember all the details from the first two volumes, but enough that I decided to read this one without re-reading the previous two. I really enjoyed the first two, and I still loved the art in this book. The facial expressions alone are the best I've ever seen; the characters in this comic are the most expressive in face and body language I think I've ever encountered. However, given the buildup in the previous volume around a certain antagonistic character, I was really disappointed to see how fast it was solved. I don't know that this series could have carried on for another volume plot-wise, but it felt a little rushed in its effort to get things all tied up nice by the end.

[Brendan Mckillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

After starting so strong in volume 1, each subsequent volume was less enjoyable.

The artwork and visual storytelling was stellar, and probably kept me more interested in the series overall.

For what was basically a buddy action movie, there was so much talking. Not in a fun, Shane Black sorta way. But in a rehashing the same conversations over and over again so that the scenes became a slog to get through sorta way.

Supporting characters never made sense. Some of the plot never ended up making sense.

It was fun, but it feels like it could have been more.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great ending! I found myself wanting to nitpick logic and plot twists but had to remind myself that this is essentially a 90's buddy cop movie. When you grade it as a contest it totally works and they stuck the landing. As a spy/espionage, not so much. However, this book is first and foremost a comedy. The premise hints at satire, while there are satirical elements this is a true comedy and well executed.

[Henry Fosdike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A generous three-stars to wrap up this series. Despite the fantastic premise and fun world building, it was growing increasingly tiring to read the reams of superfluous dialogue with every character seemingly have the same voice. This particular volume was the most irksome with an unearned twist of a character's motivations changing seemingly at random to suit the plot. Having said that, the finale was excellent so ultimately, it's hard to complain. A fun, witty, inventive series.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess that was one way to end this series. I don't know I really thought there was something more to the whole crowdfunding thing and the reaper campaign stuff, but it just got super bloated and ended up taking a backseat to relationship drama. While overall I enjoyed it for the most part, I just kept thinking about the ways that this world and ideas could've been expanded upon. So I was super surprised at the end that it felt very narrow and shallow.

[celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murderous queers? sign me up!
I've loved this series, but I think Vol. 3 in particular lost some of the pacing that I adored from the earlier volumes – there was so much packed into the last two chapters that I wish they had been given... a little more time to breathe. That the conclusion wasn't so quick to jump forward in time without giving us a liiiittle bit more.

[mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read a review for crowded #2 that was like "charlie and vita make a bad couple and ruin the whole book" and YES EXACTLY that's part of what makes the story so good. i love that vita and charlie learn that they are't good for each other and still stay friends, it's great character development. to be honest, i'm surprised i liked the 3rd volume best!

[Patrick Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put off reading this because I did not want it to end. If you enjoyed the first two volumes, you will enjoy this final volume. Does not matter what any review on this site says, getting to spend some more time with Charlie and Vita, in the capable hands of this creative team is such a treat. I hope they choose to work together again, there is magic in this combination.

[Rowan]

what a stunning end to a fantastic series. truly, this feels like an action movie written by and for queer people. the relationships are messy and complicated, and so are the people, but they'll literally gun down anyone that tries to hurt their friends. the weak point is circe's storyline, which feels rushed and a little odd because of it.