So Many Problems Make Furious #1 Infuriating

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Written by Bryan JL Glass

Art by Viktor Santos

Being a huge fan of Mice Templar, I was fast to check out Bryan JL Glass’ newest work. He dips his toe into the superhero pool with Furious. While it is a good read with no huge missteps, a score of quibbles keep this from being great.

There seems to be an obsession with telling superhero stories about dealing with paparazzi or celebrity status. This one at least deals the twist of the hero (The Beacon) having a really bad first outing and not quite being able to bounce back in the eyes of the media. The dialogue varied from solid to groan inducing at any given point in the story. There were a few scenes that really would have worked better with no caption boxes, and this story had way too many for one issue. That first twist I mentioned worked much better than the twist near the end of the story, which was almost too confusing for its own good.

Or perhaps the problem has to do with the art. Santos’ style evokes something of a Takio or Powers vibe. This works on paper. Trying to keep track of the numerous characters with similar faces is nerve wracking, but not as much as the panel composition. Some of the choices killed the flow of the action sequences.

This overall concept has been beaten to death in the post-2000 comic book landscape, but Furious at least tries to put a new coat of paint on it. Hopefully the dialogue and art snafus can get ironed out in future installments. – 3.5 out of 5