Comics Review: Disney's "ZOOTOPIA #3" is in Da Country Club

ZOOTOPIA: VOL. 1 #3

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Jeff Parker

ART: Alessandro Ranaldi

COLORS: Dearbhla Kelly

LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry

EDITOR: Nate Cosby

COVER: Trish Forstner

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Alessandro Ranaldi; Craig Rousseau

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (May 2025)

Rated “Teen”

Zootopia is a 2016 animated buddy-cop comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.  Zootopia is set in a world of anthropomorphic animals (animals that talk and act like humans).  The film follows a rabbit named Judy Hopps, who is rookie police officer, and a fox named Nick Wilde, who is a con artist.  Judy and Nick end up working together to uncover a conspiracy involving the disappearance of predators.  At the end of the film, Nick graduates from the police academy and becomes Judy's partner.

Dynamite Entertainment has been producing licensed comic books based on Disney characters and IP since 2022.  The latest is a Zootopia comic book series, entitled Zootopia: Volume 1.  It is written by Jeff Parker; drawn by Alessandro Ranaldi; colored by Dearbhla Kelly; and lettered Jeff Eckleberry.  The series continues the adventures of Officers Hopps and Wilde and is set after the events of the original film.

Zootopia: Volume 1 #3 opens inside “Usedtopia,” a second hand store.  There, Judy and Nick prep a back of goodies and faux treasure for their latest case, finding out who is the mastermind behind a series of garbage heists.  Now, they just need the two thieves they caught the night before – Lou and Ross – to spill the secrets on the mastermind.  And it all leads to a posh resort.

At the country club, “Spinybrook,” there is indeed something going on with people precious jewelry.  With the furry felons' contact inside the exclusive resort still a mystery, Officers Hopps and Wilde go undercover as new members to try and catch the culprit red-handed.  The first discovery is that there are way worse places to conduct surveillance than lying poolside in a lounge chair with waiter service.

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  Zootopia: Volume 1, Issue #3 is the latest.

I passed on Walt Disney's 2016 computer-animated hit film, Zootopia, when it first played in theaters.  Later, I started hearing good things about it, so I gave it a try on DVD (via Netflix).  I loved it, and I'm excited about the sequel film, Zootopia 2, which is due November 2025.

My enjoyment of the film virtually assured that I was going to give Dynamite's new comic book adaptation a try.  I can safely tell Zootopia fans that the fun first two issues of this series were not instances of a fluke.  Issue #3 is fun to read and includes a lot of nice surprises from series writer Jeff Parker, who manages to keep intriguing his Zootopia readers with novel plots and conspiracies.  He is giving us every reason to keep reading.

The series' artists, penciler-inker Alessandro Ranaldi and colorist Dearbhla Kelly, find exciting storytelling at a country club, more so that I expected.  It seems like a dull narrative place.  Ranaldi's art hops and dashes across the pages with fast-paced storytelling.  Kelly's colors have the spark of Disney's animation magic and also make the story pop.  As usual, Jeff Eckleberry's lettering sells this story's conceit that strange things abound in strange mysteries.

I look forward to more Zootopia Volume 1.  Anyone who reads this third issue, dear readers, will feel the need to return for the fourth issue, at least.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Dynamite Entertainment's Disney comic book series will want Zootopia: Volume 1.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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