‘Feral’ #3 Review: Image Comics Gives Us The Rules On How To Survive The Rabies Apocalypse

The cat's eye
Feral #3 cover C by Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs. Image Comics

The nightmare continues as Elsie, Patch, and Lord try to find their way back home and out of the forest of feral flesh-eaters.

Feral 3 cover
Feral vol. 1 issue #3 (2024) Cover A, Image Comics. Art by Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs.

When we last left our three heroes, they were rescued from the foamy jaws of death by two wildcats named Scratch and Jonas who tell them about “the rules” for outdoor survival.

The most important rule is to keep moving, but Scratch was caught slipping which resulted in him quickly becoming dog food.

feral 2
Getting eaten in Feral #2 (2024), Image Comics. Written by Tony Fleecs. Art by Trish Forstner.

However, the hardnosed, no-nonsense Jonas is way more of a stickler for “the rules”. He uses his friend’s death as a cautionary tale to those who don’t follow them, and decides to continue helping the housecats find their way home.

But then the perilous journey goes from bad to worse and a new threat arises. Man was in the forest and he was not out there looking for Bambi’s mom either.   

Feral #2
Keep moving if you want to live in Feral #2 (2024), Image Comics. Written by Tony Fleecs. Art by Trish Forstner.

Feral #3 opens with the four felines encountering a group of men. They’ve adorned themselves with yellow hazmat suits, and are all armed with automatic assault rifles. The rabies outbreak is obviously not limited to the local area and has become a human problem as well.

The housecats realize that the newcomers didn’t come all the way out there to cuddle with them, and instead, they find themselves running from a hail of bullets.

Fluffy Britches goes bang
Lord Fluffy Britches finds out that not every human wants to give him pets in Feral #3 (2024), Image Comics. Written by Tony Fleecs. Art by Trish Forstner.

Patch is showing more signs of infection after being scratched by a feral raccoon (see issue #1). It starts with the eyes going bloodshot, and a gradual mental deterioration from there. Whatever else is included with the transformation has yet to be seen, but it’s not looking good at all.

He has been able to keep it to himself up until this point, but it’s becoming more obvious to Elsie that something is wrong with him.

Come Patch things up
Patch ain’t looking too good in Feral #1 (2024), Image Comics. Written by Tony Fleecs. Art by Trish Forstner.

Lord Fluffy Britches continues disobeying “the rules”, and leads the ka-tet from one disaster to the next. Lord is adorable, and annoying, but can also be very brave, just like every other kid.

They meet a fellow housecat named GiGi who’s out there alone and looks to be infected. Jonas immediately smells that something is wrong with her, but they are interrupted by a gang of feral foxes and armed men before he can prevent GiGi from tagging along with them.

It isn’t until the last page that he realizes that it doesn’t matter anyway.

Sparkly GiGi
Meet Gigi in Feral #3 (2024), Image Comics. Written by Tony Fleecs. Art by Trish Forstner.

This title is getting better with every issue. The story is still building up, but the fast-paced action stays fluid, and readers quickly find themselves worrying about the safety of the characters.

And just like with every other zombie story, it has its own “rules for the apocalypse” guide; something which comes off as fresh through the perspective of animals, and not as played-out like with humans.

Laying down the rules
Jonas explains “the rules” to the three housecats in Feral #3 (2024), Image Comics. Written by Tony Fleecs. Art by Trish Forstner.

Feral #3 is available now at your local comic shop (LCS).

NEXT: ‘Feral’ #2 Review – Image Comics Keeps Scratching And It Feels Good

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