Jumping The Gun Part 1
It’s been a while, Wrecks Readers (or is it ‘Wrecks Wreaders’?)!
We go back to the world of Fro-Man and Dubstep Boy, for issue #3, released August 2nd. As always, there will be spoilers in these recap/reviews, so proceed at your own risk.
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Issue 3 starts with a brief recap of Issue 2. You can also CLICK HERE for the recap of said issue. After the recap, the story picks up 1.5 seconds later: General Manager (‘GM’) is – WAS – starting a tour of the Center Center. He changes plans by giving the tour to his right hand man, General Advisor (‘GA’), while leading Dubstep Boy (Solomon) and Fro-Man off to a separate room. There, he explains that Solomon has an alien attached to his brain called a Netrian: it grabs a host body (b/c it can’t survive in our atmosphere), eventually takes control of it, kills the host, and ejects back into space. Not a good future for Solomon.
While GM is explaining – “MONOLOGUING” – this, GA rushes in and exclaims that The Underground has been found! We don’t know what or who that is, but it’s important enough for GM to dispatch every hero in the Center Center to go after it.
All except Fro-Man, Dubstep, and the group that came in on the Flying Bus from last issue. Guess who gets to defend the center while everyone else is gone?
Fro-Man and Dustep Boy head off to get new uniforms… which, after some “persuasion” from General Designer (‘GD’) and her clothes-ripping assistant, O-Tee (a mix of animals), look exactly like their old clothes. The differences: hair-enhancing powers for Fro-Man, Netrian-Cancelling powers for Dubstep Boy:
I kind of want that hoodie, to be honest.
Fro tests out his uni, Dubstep is in the midst of being locked down in his hoodie (he can become invulnerable for 5 minutes – with a 1 hour cooldown – but cannot move), and Electric Girl is waiting in a lobby for her turn. She tries to help up Dubstep, he falls on top of her, and you get ‘that’ awkward moment, complete with babbling excuses for why he was on top of her. To make things more awkward: after reassurances by each other, Electric Girl does THIS:
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Fro-Man doesn’t have time for boops, for he has seen someone he’s been looking for: The Janitor… the Bus Driver… the guy he saw when he was frozen! A chase through the Center Center takes place; Fro-Man finally corners the Janitor in a back room and demands answer. After getting Fro-Man to calm down, The Janitor info-dumps:
In 1987, GM’s mom created the original GMT – ‘General Medical Troop’. She and her team went around to local hospitals, trying to save ‘special case’ patients… like Fro-Man. And GM, who is/was blind. The ones they could save ended up with special powers; others were frozen in ice until they were safe to unfreeze. The families of these people were notified by GM/Gm’s mom (answering the lingering question of how Fro-Man’s family reacted to his disappearance). The Janitor knew of these procedures, so he went to work at GMT and the Center Center. Satisfied, Fro-Man heads back with a normal Dubstep, having made peace with The Janitor.
In a briefing with GM, Gm explains that The Underground is your typical secret criminal group. He also explains to each of the assembled group what everyone’s powers are:
- We already know what Fro-Man and Dubstep Boy can do (basically)
- Electric Girl can shoot lightning, summon lightning from clouds, and turn into energy to travel through electrical outlets and wires
- Chatterbug can communicate with any insect or bug within a 1 mile radius, including spiders (YES, I know that spiders aren’t insects); she can also fly, via attached mechanical(?) wings
- Toon Todd does not speak but can stretch/pull himself into nearly any shape
GM explains that their mission is to patrol and protect the heart of the city, a mission that GM isn’t confident that they can pull off.
Solomon, talking to Electric Girl, initiates a flashback to the day he blew up his family’s house with his sneeze. It turns out that his sister, Sophie, survived the explosion, and his parents *might* have survived. Sophie explores the house wreckage until she is spotted by a van of criminals from… The Underground. They make her an offer she can’t realistically refuse: “Make us some of your inventions and we’ll help you find your family.”
So THAT is how Sophie became a “criminal”.
Sophie makes some kind of superpowered, armored suit for Hensile (the guy that made her that offer), although t he suit isn’t shown yet.
Back too the present, and the Fro-Man Group is at a diner, woefully unprepared, except for Chatterbug, who took a book’s worth of notes from the briefing. There is a BOOM! from outside; Fro-Man rushes out and sees trouble:
The heroes, having heard of these two, aren’t particularly impressed. There ARE impressed when The Gatling Gals’ backup arrives:
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This is still impressive work by a 16 year old kid! I liked the resolution of the problems between Fro-Man and The Janitor but the backstory felt… rushed? Thin? I’m not sure of the correct term. It wasn’t bad; it just needed more.
I like the 4th Wall breaking, just like the 1st 2 issues. It doesn’t happen a lot, which is perfect!
Overall, this was a fun issue. The pace was good, the story didn’t take too many crazy turns, and it sets up for Issue 4. Can’t wait!
Comicdom Wrecks! 