FF #9 – Review

Matt Fraction (Writer), Joe Quinones (Artist), Laura Allred (Colorist)

The Story: Pool Party! That and also the meeting of Julius Caesar and the teachers.

The Review: This is a strange title. It is a curious way to start a review, but it also the truth. Let us consider exactly what we are reading: a bunch of superheroes teach a group of hyper-intelligent and very diverse group of children in order to form them for humanity’s future and betterment. In this group, we have a robot dragon, a bunch of children that comes from underground, with one of them having discovered his true gender a being much more feminine than what his masculine body would foretell, one being a head in a flying jar. I could go on with how bizarre all of these characters are but the point is this: this is a rather weird book.

While it may sound like a flaw of the book, let me reinstate this in the other way by pinpointing the fact that this is the strongest point of the title. Superhero books live by the fact that we can accept that some things aren’t here to make complete sense or to be completely logical, which this book accepts and even make it his biggest selling point. Where else could you get a book where all those students learn the joy of having a pool party, splashing around as their interaction provide the crucial entertainment we so crave?

As much as the teachers, the replacement FF are interesting and fully formed as characters, it is clearly the kids that are the stars of this book. The main reason is surprisingly simple: they actually behave as actual children, with their high and lows, their desires and their amazement toward some of their discovery. In making them so likable in their optimism, Matt Fraction managed to make it so incredibly gifted and talented kids can be so incredibly relatable as we see their actions. Who never splashed around when they were in a pool, trying to rush water toward the other to satisfy that primal urge of fun and action? These kids do in this issue and while it may sound as the most boring thing to describe in a comic, it is quite entertaining to read as these characters feel quite alive, as Bentley-23 tries to discover who the aquatic students, Vil and Wu are, while the other reacts differently to this whole basin of water that is there for their enjoyment.