Ellie, Otto, and Ava go on a road trip and get more than they bargained for in Crossover #3, by writer Donny Cates, artist Geoff Shaw, colorist Dee Cunniffe, and letterer John J. Hill. Cates and company up the ante with this one, ending on a huge surprise that will be great for just about anyone who knows anything about the ‘90s indie comic scene.

As Ellie puts make-up on Ava to make her look like she’s from the real world, she has a flashback to the day the dome went up, and she lost her parents. Otto inspects her work, and they get ready to make their trip to the dome. Elsewhere, Ryan’s father confronts him about his arrest, trying to beat the truth out of him and threatening him. After his father leaves, Ryan sneaks out the window. Ellie, Otto, and Ava encounter a checkpoint, and Otto starts to freak out when Ellie sees Ryan, leaves the car, and attacks him. The fight is broken up by a cop who demands ID from both of them when a giant comic robot fighting a squid wreaks havoc. The two are able to escape and meet up with Doctor Blaqk, a magic-user from the dome who helped Ava escape with the Paybacks, a hero team whose book was canceled. After some argument, Ellie, Otto, Ryan, and Ava agree to go with the Paybacks. Ellie asks them to take them to the dome, and they say they’ll take Ava only when the man who helped rescue Ava appears.

Cates starts the book with a Watchmen reference, talking about the squid and the fact that in the book, it united humanity. Well, the same thing happened to the world of Crossover, and it didn’t unite humanity- just caused them to build new bombs. He also reveals a few things about the dome- that the superpeople erected it to protect themselves from humanity and that Dr. Blaqk of the Paybacks, who appear later in the issue. Cates seems to be putting the lie to Watchmen’s ending- the event wouldn’t stop humanity from fighting. It would just start the fight in a different way. Of course, Cates may have just wanted a cool scene little soliloquy from Ellie about what she thought of the world, one that would tie into the appearance of a giant squid later in the book. However, it’s still food for thought.

Beyond that, Cates does a great job of hitting home who each character is while also giving readers their first actual Crossover of Crossover. Having the book’s main cast meet the Paybacks, old creations of Cates for Dark Horse Comics (he even sneaks an advertisement for the collected edition of the book in there). The biggest surprise is the reveal of who helped Ava. It’s definitely not Superman but a legend of the ‘90s indie comic scene. It’s a great moment, one that will really hit home for both fans of the character and comics historians.

Geoff Shaw’s art continues to impress. Shaw has always been great, but his work with Cates is among his best. Maybe it’s the fact that their indie work isn’t as much of a grind as when they work for corporate books; whatever it is, Shaw’s pencils sing. The opening is wonderful- Ellie’s flashback is visceral and emotional, with Shaw’s pencils really getting the whole scene to hit home. The chaos at the checkpoint is great, and the Payback’s van and the surprises within are icing on the cake.

Crossover #3 is a wonderful comic. The opening flashback hits the right emotional notes, and Cates keeps things going from there, really fleshing out the characters. He keeps adding more wrinkles to the whole thing- what does Ryan’s father have planned? How are the Paybacks and Ava’s benefactor going to play into everything? Shaw’s pencils are some of the best of his career, making the whole thing that much better. Crossover hit its first Crossover, and it’s delightful.

Grade: A