Freedom Formula #1
Posted: Monday, August 4, 2008
By: Kyle Garret
Edmund Shern
Chester Ocampo, Kai, Mr. B (c)
Radical Publishing
The first issue of a new series is something of a tricky wicket. You have to establish your basic premise in a way that doesn’t feel expositional and not only keep your reader interested, but also invites them back for more. You need to get the hook across without being vague, but you don’t want to bog the reader down so much that they can’t enjoy the issue on its own. It’s a fine line. Unfortunately, it’s not one that Freedom Formula #1 walks very well.
According to our completely unreliable narrator at the beginning of the book, at some point in our future the governments of the world wage never ending war against each other. At some point, the people unite and overthrow those governments, created a “shining new era – free enterprise for a free world.” It would seem that the world is now run by corporations.
The problem with the opening is that this is all told by an announcer at the Formula Infinity race, the sporting event of the future made up of genetically modified humans specifically changed to wear giant racing suits that were once used in the war. The broadcaster is pretty obviously giving a biased account of what led to these races, but all that serves to do is cast confusion on what the set-up for this series really is. And nothing he says is particularly refuted later in the issue.
Next, we meet Zee, a delivery boy who’s moving from the wastelands, heading into the city. Through a series of rather confusing events that involve the aforementioned race and a big crash, Zee meets Myles, who would seem to be his future partner in the series. Zee was headed into the city to deliver a package for his dead father, one last task for a man he seemed to hate. The package, however, just gets Zee kidnapped, which is where we leave him at the end of the issue.
As I mentioned, this issue doesn’t lay out the premise of Freedom Formula particularly well, and because of such, I don’t have much interest in reading the second issue. The art is flashy, but the storytelling is lacking.
I’d admire any attempts at introducing a new title to the shelves, particularly one that isn’t standard superhero fare. But Freedom Formula #1 just seems to miss too many essential storytelling marks.
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