That Good Homework (Future Foundation #1 Review)
FUTURE FOUNDATION #1
Writer: Jeremey Whitley
Penciler: Will Robson
Inkers: Will Robson & Daniele Orlandini
Colorist: Greg Menzie
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover: Carlos Pacheco, Rafel Fonteriz & Matt Yackey
Publisher: Marvel
Rating: B+
Class is in session everyone. This week we got the release of the FUTURE FOUNDATION right from the pages of the FANTASTIC FOUR. I see you raising your hand to ask who or what is the Future Foundation. Well, if you open your comic books to page one you will see that they are a group of brilliant young minds that were brought together by Reed Richards to create a better future. The class has a diverse range of Moloids (mole people?), clones of super villains, Wakandans, fish people and dragon android. With their co-teachers, Alex and Julie Power leading the curriculum across the Multiverse, there is nothing they can’t solve. Our issue’s first assignment? Break into a heavily guarded super-prison to locate a fragment of a former friend, Molecule Man. Extra credit to anyone who busts out an additional familiar face.
My first experience with the students of the Future Foundation was through Matt Fraction’s run on FF. I quickly fell in love with the personalities and quirks all the kids had in the group. Where this series picks up, it’s been a considerable amount of time since they were last seen heading out into the Multiverse with the Richard’s family to explore. They are now back a little older and with it, I got a little more personality from some of the more featured students this issue. Bentley-23, the 23rd clone of a supervillain is easily the show stealer for me in this series. His already chaotic schemes are now matched with an equal amount of sass and ego that reminds me of certain pink-haired Omega Level mutant I am so fond of.
You do get some brief moments with a couple of the other students too which dive more into what their interests are but aside from Bentley, the focus was on the teachers. They might not be doing as much of the heavy lifting as the students are but Jeremy Whitley puts a good amount of the issue in letting you know where Alex and Julie Power are at. I guess you could consider that Alex is doing the heavy increasing though in this scenario (he has gravity powers). Alex doubts his ability to handle the weight of responsibility he was given by Reed Richards and his sister is trying to find her place in the world and what that might be. Overall, the issue does a good job with giving you an idea of some of the student’s deals; given time I can see Whitley exploring everyone’s thoughts in more detail as he did with Alex and Julie.
Grading through this issue, there were some things that stood out to me. Determining who this series was for took me a couple of read-throughs. I didn’t find the story to be super complex despite involving super geniuses and the Multiverse. I would say this book could be considered something for all ages. Great for those who are familiar with the Fantastic Four history and the origins of the Foundation as well as young readers looking for some young heroes. The art lends to that as well. The art here definitely leans more to a young reader appearance to me which isn’t bad. It has a vibe that reminds me of watching Saturday morning cartoons. Great panels that exude heroism and others that just radiate crazy situations in good light-heartedness. At the end of today’s lesson, it can be said that if you are a fan of anything Fantastic Four related, or might know a young reader who would love some young superhero adventures than this would be a good series to pick up.