FBP, Finals, Flex Mentallo

FBP 1-7

I bought the first issue of this when it was titled Collider.  Then it got renamed to FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics after encountering some copyright issues and I totally missed it under its new title.  The concept of a government agency investigating broken laws of physics is magnificent. It shares a lot of the same elements as Skyward - Gravity not working, a young protagonist with daddy issues, and an evil corporation looking to take advantage.  

Unfortunately, the execution by Simon Oliver and Robbi Rodriguez didn’t really impress me.  I just...didn’t care about it. I was hoping for something more episodic, like Planetary, where there’s a new anomaly to solve every issue.  Instead, Oliver immediately throws in a corrupt partner, the privatization of physics enforcement, and decades-old conspiracies. Not what I was looking for, and not well-written enough to convince me otherwise.  

Worth the five bucks to try out, but this trade’s heading back out the door.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Finals 1-4

Very very fun, but trips up on the ending.  Will Pfeifer has a hilariously twisted take on the college experience, and Jill Thompson matches, if not exceeds, his insanity with her inspired art and countless background easter eggs.  

Obvious tagline.  Don't care.

Yeah, the roofies sign hasn't aged well.

The senior theses of the protagonists form the backbone of the mini-series, and they are wonderful: Nancy starts a cult for her comparative religions major, and finds that being blindly served by fanatical zealots has pluses and minuses.  Dave commits armed robberies in the name of criminal justice. Gary devolves into a mindless cave man. (Anthropology.) Tim invents a time machine just in time to see his future self die in front of him. Wally plays the straight man with a boring film project to complete.  (It’s always a shame when the main character has the most boring story arc.)

And I’d be negligent if I didn’t mention the running gag where Randy manages to arm the entire Middle East and start a nuclear war.  “That bastard’s project is the reason gas prices are so high.”

Things slowly spiral out of control over the course of four issues, and it’s delight to read.  All the way up until the final issue, where just about everyone dies in blazes of various degrees of glory.  It ends abruptly and unsatisfyingly, but that isn’t enough to ruin a most entertaining comic.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Flex Mentallo 1-4

I’d read so much good stuff about this series that I jumped at the chance to pick up the hardcover for half off.  If only I’d know that it was batshit crazy Grant Morrison instead of good Grant Morrison. It’s like Silver Age Superman on drugs that I can’t even conceive of.  

I love this, but my brain can only process so much before overheating.

Not sure if I'm for or against.

I slogged through the entire thing, wondering how long it would take before the pain would end.  (Sixty-two minutes.) A truly stultifying experience.

Still, I can’t cut it.  It’s so weird that I have to believe that I’m missing something.  It’s unlikely that I’ll ever want to read this again, but the challenge of making any sense of this feels like an Everest that I don’t want to completely dismiss.  

Also, Frank Quitely’s art is beautiful.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Stupid