FEAR THE FAMILY FIRST (VOL. 1), coming soon from Finch. Ink, imagines a world where people receive superpowers through what they believe to be a Divine blessing. Now, imagine that world ruled by houses and gangs where the most powerful have control over all.
The Details
- Written By: James Finch II
- Art By: Feli White
- Colors By: Areri Buendía
- Letters By: Areri Buendía, Nikki Powers
- Cover Art By: Feli White, Areri Buendía
- Cover Price: TBD
- Release Date: Coming soon
Was It Good?
FEAR THE FAMILY FIRST (VOL. 1) is an interesting indie project that plays with the idea of superpowers developing over wide swaths of the world’s population. What would the world become if humanity was no longer human? This comic seeks to paint the picture of this new world and the conflict it brings.
If you have a wide range of comic tastes, you might think this sounds like Earth in the globally popular My Hero Academia series. In concept and execution, there are a lot of assimilates, but if you compare the two titles, point for point, this version of Earth would be the Earth of MHA before laws, governments, and institutions stepped in to regulate people with powers, almost as if this is a prequel to MHA soon after quirks started manifesting. Once you get past the initial premise and the familiarity of the world, all comparisons end.
This comic is a gritty and emotionally driven character study about a son desperate to free his parents from indentured servitude, a common practice in this world. Superpowers naturally create a class system where non-powered people “sell” themselves to powered individuals for help. The class system breeds a new form of voluntary slavery that makes for an uncomfortable social setting, and it’s a potent motivator for all kinds of drama.
That said, this first issue isn’t without its flaws. Daniel (the main character and leader of the gang known as The Family) has a crew of supporting characters whose powers aren’t entirely clear (What does Thriller do?). Likewise, the villains Daniel sometimes encounters have strangely defined powers.
Next, the chapter plots are clear, but the flow and panel transitions are frequently awkward. For example, the entire section of the story set in Dummy’s Soul Food Restaurant was very confusing because the restaurant is populated by talking dummys. It wasn’t obvious if the dummys were transformed humans or remote-controlled dummys. And the big boss would occasionally talk through the dummys for no reason that made sense.
Lastly, there’s an interesting prologue in the beginning about a gang member named Kack J. who gets into a tough spot. Kack is never mentioned again in the rest of the comic, and it’s unclear how Kack connects to anyone else in the comic. The prologue helps establish the world, but the main character in the prologue doesn’t appear connected to the story.
The art is generally okay. The style abruptly shifts from color in the prologue to B&W for the remainder of the book, so it’s unclear if there’s an intention to color the rest of the book in the future or if the shift was a creative choice.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a prologue to quickly explain the world is manifesting superpowers among the population. The exact root cause is never found but most take the evolution as a gift from God and treat those “blessed” with powers as chosen ones. Unchecked power, however, breeds classism, elitism, and social oppression.
Soon, we meet a small boy, Daniel, who’s badly mauled by an animal. Desperate to save Daniel’s life, his parents accept an agreement to serve an unscrupulous man with healing powers for 40 years. Daniel survives and develops godlike strength powers in his own right, but the life of his family is strictly controlled by the healer aka the Handyman. As Daniel grows into a man, he forms a gang, The Family, to search for a way to free his parents from the Handyman’s contract. The Handyman is willing to deal as long as Daniel takes on dangerous assignments for the chance to have Daniel’s parents released.
We conclude the issue with a visit with some dummys, a hall of mirrors, and the greatest challenge of Daniel’s life.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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FEAR THE FAMILY FIRST (VOL. 1) is a unique take on a world where superpowers become the norm and unchecked powers lead to a class system that feeds resentment and violence. The story has some solid character development (even if the character powers aren’t always obvious) and the world feels lived in. That said, the panel transitions need work, and the overall flow feels clunky.
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