Furious #1 is a new series written by Bryan J. L. Glass and published by Dark Horse about the world’s first superhero, who also has a very dark past. So she uses her powers as a superhero to try to atone for her past because every time she looks in the mirror she’s reminded of who she used to be and what she did, and it gives her an uncontrollable temper as she’s consumed with guilt. So she’s distracted by her own situation and reflecting on her struggles with fame and media attention throughout her life while she’s trying to stop a woman speeding dangerously in her car with her young son in the backseat. This woman had her son taken from her by the courts and given to her ex-husband, and decided to take matters into her own hands. And in doing so not only risks the life of her son but everyone out there with her reckless driving. And despite Furious’s good intentions to want to help this lady and protect the lives of others, she can’t help but think about how things always end up going bad for her and in her attempts to save one egg she ends up dropping an entire carton, figuratively and literally. So she faces a dilemma because she doesn’t want to just protect her identity because she’s a superhero but because she’s Cadence Lark, a woman with a notorious past and celebrity status as a result. This dilemma fills her with rage and she was dubbed Furious because of that rage being displayed when beating up some criminals. Can Furious find redemption and make peace within herself as a superhero before her true identity is exposed or will she ultimately end up breaking more eggs than she saves?

I was intrigued by this series because of the twist on the reason a superhero would want to protect his/her identity and one’s alter ego being even more famous than the super hero persona. So there’s the classic, deeply personal motivation of wanting to use one’s powers responsibly in order to do good but here the character is filled with rage at herself and her past so she’s in essence her own worst enemy and in more than one way. The opening set the stage immediately and the car chase interlaced with flashes from other moments in her day was a really good touch in establishing what the character was facing. Although I didn’t fully get the parallel drawn between the mentality of the mother kidnapping the child and her view of herself being a brat but the overall analogy of the out of control speeding car with the baby in the back worked very well. The way this dilemma impacted her personal life was shown in a very understandable way that showed how this was all-consuming and affected her relationship with others, and the struggle in wanting to change that. Her relationship with the public wasn’t quite as clear as I wasn’t sure at first if she was a fugitive, just notorious for her past, or a celebrity who became notorious when her past was revealed. Of course that’ll become clearer as the series goes on but I felt that could’ve been handled somewhat cleaner this issue especially since the beginning strongly implied her predicament was largely due to the result of her wanting more and not satisfied with fame. However this issue did make me more interested in seeing how things unfold, the revelations that await and also the character.

SUMMARY

Furious #1 is a very interesting start to a new take on a superhero striving to do good and use one’s powers responsibly while trying to protect one’s alter ego. The parallel drawn between the car chase Furious is trying to stop in the best way and her own life worked in not only giving a clear way to understand the overall predicament and mentality but also in showing how physics is even important for superheroes (if you read the issue you’ll understand). The character’s notoriety in the public eye was somewhat confusing initially and hopefully that’ll become clearer as more of the character’s past is revealed. Overall this is a very promising start to a new series showing the journey of a conflicted superhero coming to terms and maybe finding redemption for one’s past.

Writer: Bryan J. L. Glass

Artist: Victor Santos

Release date: 1/29/14