A defining trait of the "No Mercy" series has been the juxtaposition of jubilance amidst horror. Unlike previous issues, "Endless Summer" part three is dull and gray. It enters the trenches of Central American drug wars which, it turns out, mostly involves driving. While I would like to have seen more from the rest of the characters, dedicating most of the issue to Tiffani and DeShawn really drives in the gravity of their situation. Kept hostage, Tiffani and DeShawn are cut off from the world; kept reading about Tiffani and DeShawn, we are cut off from the world too.

So far the reboot does a good job of setting up a new storyline while connecting with the old ("old" being the storyline prior to trade Volume 3). Palisade is trying to rebuild after destruction seen in previous arcs; a cult seems to have emerged from the events surrounding the squid beasts; Bernadette reminds Dee that she's no longer just Dee; and so on. Wiebe does a good job setting up the series for action, and I'm cautiously hopeful that Rat Queens will return to its glory days.