It’s a pretty big week in comics. Absolute Superman is taking flight (no spoilers, but it’s good and we’ll have a full explainer tomorrow), as does Batgirl. There are also new issues of The Ultimates, Batman, Aliens vs. Avengers and a whole bunch of other cool books. There’s also FML, the brand new creator-owned comic from Kelly Sue DeConnick and David López published by Dark Horse. A new DeConnick comic is always worth paying attention to, and this one doesn’t disappoint.
FML is a tricky book to sum up. Part of the pleasure of reading this terrific first issue is the sense of never being quite sure in what direction it’s going to go in next. We’ll keep things spoiler free, as the issue isn’t out yet, but suffice to say it’s a witty, personal, and heart-wrenching coming of age tale with a Portland punk rock twist.
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At first glance, FML looks simply to be a comic about a group of outsider teens. There’s the furious, green-haired Savvy (real name: Savage Slaughter); Glory, who wears a witch’s hat and is very much not to be messed with, and super-smart Lydia. Then there’s Riley, the issue’s narrator, who dreams of his band STFU (of which the other characters are also members) making it big, but who is also riddled with anxiety. There’s a sparky energy to the opening pages and you immediately want to hang out with this scrappy gang of underdogs, even if the issue doesn’t give us much of a sense of what the rest of their school life is like.
FML isn’t just about the youngsters, though. We quickly learn that Riley’s mother used to be Patty Cake – a famous punk musician. She’s immediately the most compelling character in the comic, an enigmatic figure “doing the best she can” in difficult circumstances. In this first issue her past remains a little mysterious – “She’s Mom now,” says Riley simply at one point, and there’s a melancholy in the way that complicated word shows both familial love while glossing over her own history and identity. The relationship between these two characters looks set to be the heart of the comic and that’s a really refreshing dynamic.
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In terms of plot, STFU (“Our s**t is so heavy we’re a black f**king hole!”) wangle their way into getting a spot playing at the local HeavyFest. Riley gets into trouble at school, and then the band discover something strange that changes the course of the story in a fun and unexpected way – we’ll leave that for you to discover when you read the issue.
David López’s art blurs the lines between the everyday reality of the comic and fantasy, with Riley’s doodles breaking out of his sketchbook and into the narrative. It’s a visually inventive book, cartoony and fun, but with a gloomy and appropriately goth tinge thanks to colorist Cris Peter’s palette of reds, purples, and blues.
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It’s also a comic that’s absolutely thrumming with anxiety. This is a world of COVID masks, omnipresent true crime podcasts, and active shooter drills at school. Our world, then, or one close to it – and isn’t that all just a lot to be constantly thinking about? Although the first issue of FML takes a turn for the supernatural in its final pages, this is one of the most grounded and recognizable comic book depictions of what it feels like to live in our present moment that I’ve seen in a while.
FML is set to run for eight issues, with each one also containing bonus material. Based on this first chapter it’s a hard recommend, especially for anyone who was/is in a band, as well as for fans of Stranger Things, Paper Girls, Donnie Darko, and Buffy. In a week full of big name superhero books that will no doubt hog the comics media headlines (including ours!), this very personal, very charming book is the one I’ll be thinking about the longest.
FML #1 is published by Dark Horse Comics on November 6.
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