Last fall, DSTLRY set readers out to sea with Endeavour, a Lord of the Flies-esque tale of survival, mystery, and chaos on the high seas. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Mark Laming, the series took readers on what was supposed to be a luxury adventure aboard an 18th century ship, the Endeavour, when things go horrifically awry and leave just the children alive after a mystery illness kills the adults and leaves them trying to survive. Now, the final issue, Endeavour #3 is headed to shelves in August with final order cutoff on June 15th and if you were hoping for a happy ending to this twisting tale, abandon hope—and prepare to be left with more questions than answers.
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ComicBook has an exclusive, early review of Endeavour #3. While the issue overall doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the first issue and needs the other two issues to fully connect, it’s still a chilling story of guilt, paranoia, and how lingering trauma can impact the line between madness and reality. The issue will leave you wanting more in a very palpable way, but it’s still a solid read.
Rating: 3 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
| Character progression is deeply fascinating and well done | Several story elements feel incomplete. |
| The art is incredible. | The story feels like it could have gone on a lot longer. |
Endeavour #3 Concludes the Series’ Chilling Tale of Human Nature But Leaves a Lot Left Unexplained
Without getting into spoiler territory, Endeavour #3 spends a good bit of time in the past—both the immediate past of the story to give us a little insight into the mysterious woman who kicked off the catastrophic illness and set things in motion as well as Via’s past in particular, offering some further insight into her family dynamic as well as the experience that ultimately shape both her and her brother. The issue also takes us into just how desperate things have become. Last we saw Nikeel he was newly ill and with the other characters, there was a brewing power struggle for who would be in charge of their efforts to endure. Both of those things come to a head in the issue and while both situations are messy, it’s. handled in a way that is very fitting to the story and the characters.
One thing that Phillips does very well here is that she taps into deep truths about her characters. Particularly when it comes to Via and Roy, we get to see exactly how they are shaped and how power works for them. It slowly becomes evident that control is an important factor, but Phillips shows us that before she tells us, and it works very well, particularly with Laming’s art that helps slowly bring these core reveals about Via and Roy to a head with actual stakes and consequences. However, while the ultimate destination for the characters and indeed all of the survivors on the ship feels natural, it’s how we get there that feels a bit out of place.
To put it more directly, Endeavour #3 feels like we are racing through elements of a larger story to get to a conclusion. Make no mistake: Endeavour is a great story and the third issues maintains the almost ghost story like vibe the first issue had. However, it feels like there is so much more story to tell that simply gets left behind as we work our way to resolve the situation on the ship that grows every more dire with dwindling resources. The conclusion is shocking, but less because of what actually happens and how it feels like we raced there.
There also feels like a bit of disconnect to the bigger mysteries that the series had set up along the way. There are still some big questions about the mystery woman who brought illness to the ship in the first place that are left dangling and thus, leave the reader wanting. There is also the more historical element of the Endeavour’s story, with what happens in the 18th century still a part of the story, but it’s actual place in how it all works feels a less uncertain.
Ultimately, I really like Endeavour #3, but I enjoy it more as a part of the whole than as a single issue. I also feel like there was so much more story that didn’t get a chance to fully be told and much more horror that could have been tapped into, which is a bit of a tragedy in itself as Phillips has truly crafted something unique with this story. That said, the end is shocking and a little disorienting and in a sense, that feels almost like the point of the whole story. The truth about what people are capable of might be the real horror and the real tale of survival here and Endeavour #3 will leave you wondering just what you are capable of as well.
Endeavour #3 goes on sale August 5th. Final order cutoff is June 15th.
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