Jenny Zero #3: Are The Cops Really This Dumb? (Spoilery Comic Book Review)

If you read the previous issue of Jenny Zero, then you know how dumb the anti-kaiju force were. Well, in this third issue, they somehow manage to top even that level of stupidity.

As with all the previous issues, Dave Dwonch and Brockton McKinney are the writers for Jenny Zero #3. The former is also the letterer. The artist for this comic book is Magenta King, who also drew the cover art, while DAM is the colorist. Last, but not least, Dark Horse Comics continues to be the publisher for this comic book, and by extension the whole comic book series.

Jenny Zero #3 went on sale on July 7, 2021. You can get print versions of this at your local comic book store. If you are fine with the digital version though, or maybe if you are running out of room to put your books, you can download it directly from Dark Horse Comics’ own website here.

Warning: spoilers for Jenny Zero #3 below. If you want to know why the cops in this comic book are so dumb for yourself, stop here and come back once you have experienced their stupidity in all its glory.

Jenny Zero #3: Plot Summary

The beginning of Jenny Zero #3 starts with, guess what, stupidity from the so-called “Action Science Police”, or ASP. They apparently decide that it’s a great idea to detain a high-profile society member (aka. Jenny’s best friend) without any hint of a probable cause, and interrogate her about Jenny’s location. Said interrogator is apparently complete idiot who only seems to care about showing off to a pretty lady. The only reason they don’t torture her for info is because the ASP has a mind reader on their payroll (who is presumably the real interrogator) and can tell that said best friend genuinely does not know where Jenny is. We will get back to that later.

Jenny Zero #3 then jumps to where Jenny actually is. As expected, she is drunk as a fish. Unexpectedly, she runs into a little old lady to leads Jenny to her dojo in the mountains somewhere, and basically teaches her the Way of the Drunken Master. Apparently, in this story, alcohol in moderation does produce a good fighting style. Oh, and as it turns out, Jenny’s dog is a lot smarter (and older) than she had realized. Said dog apparently “owned” her father before her. Go figure.

And now we get to the true levels of stupidity in Jenny Zero #3. The top leader of the ASP calls in Jenny’s uncle and basically demands that he hand over Jenny. When he refuses and lies about not knowing Jenny’s location, the top leader reveals that the whole thing was basically a loyalty test, that they already know Jenny’s location from reading his mind (thanks to that mind reader), and now they’re going to go either make Jenny fight, or kill her if she won’t. Oh, and he’s under arrest for “treason”. The leader uses that specific wording. I do not think it means what she thinks it means.

So the ASP sends a military unit to do just that, which includes that idiot cop from the beginning. They get trounced by the little old lady and her martial artists, and then get further trounced when Jenny goes into kaiju mode and uses her newly learned Drunken Fist on them. I don’t see how the ASP could get even dumber than this, but I guess we will find out in the next issue of Jenny Zero, because this is where this issue ends.

Jenny Zero #3: The Good

Well, I like the fact that Jenny’s best friend does care that deeply for her. Even when faced with what are essentially secret police by this point unlawfully arresting her and interrogating her, she still doesn’t tell them anything. Primarily because she genuinely doesn’t know, but it’s nice to see her being that loyal to Jenny.

Surprisingly, I also ended up liking that little old Drunken Fist lady in Jenny Zero #3. She’s arguably the first positive mentor figure Jenny has ever had. She teaches Jenny a very important lesson: everything in moderation. Drinking too much makes Jenny uncoordinated, but not drinking at all makes her tense and inflexible. At the very least, it’s definitely better than Jenny drinking until she passes out, so she gets some character development thanks to that Drunken Fist lady. Plus, the little old lady is hilarious, so that’s another plus for her from me.

It’s also interesting that in Jenny Zero #3, Jenny’s uncle actually reveals himself to genuinely care about her wellbeing. This is in stark contrast to his antagonistic behavior in the previous 2 issues. He is willing to go so far as to lie to his superiors to ensure Jenny’s wellbeing, so kudos to him.

Jenny Zero #3: The Bad

The stupidity of the ASP in Jenny Zero #3. Oh my god, the sheer stupidity. Imagine the train of logic it would take to convince yourself that it’s a good idea to force someone who can transform into a sapient kaiju at will to fight for you, and then kill her if she refuses. And the foe you want her to fight? More kaiju that your organization can’t handle, or else you wouldn’t be wanting Jenny to fight for you in the first place.

How is it that someone who is the leader of the ASP can come to such a mind bogglingly stupid decision? And she looks so smug as she makes it too, like she’s completely certain of the intelligence of her decision. Well, I guess she’s the living embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger effect here, and possibly the Peter principle as well. I’m honestly hoping that she doesn’t get to be living in the next issue of Jenny Zero.

Conclusion

Somehow, the anti-kaiju force in Jenny Zero #3 manages to reach new levels of stupid. In particular, the highest levels of management. How did these idiots manage to fight off kaiju again? I guess we’ll see in the next issue of this comic book series (which is rapidly turning into dark comedy) from Dark Horse Comics. Or maybe not.

Source: Dark Horse Comics