fx

FX
$19.99
A while ago artist/writer John Byrne made it known that, for an "x" amount of money, he would create a comic book issue for whoever. Longtime comic book reader (and a big fan of Byrne's art) Wayne Osborne took up the man's offer and had Byrne provide illustrations for an original story Osborne had come up with. The result is a complete issue of FX. Osborne then went to the San Diego comic convention and shopped it around until IDW Publishing bit, promising to publish FX as a six issue mini-series, with the caveat that John Byrne be on board to draw the entire thing. And, no worries, John Byrne was on board.

FX is the story of a boy named Tom Talbot. It starts with Tom horsing around with his best pal Jack, when Tom is suddenly struck by a mysterious, radiant shaft of light, and then Jack unwittingly clobbers his skull with a stick. A few days later Tom learns that he's abruptly developed an amazing talent. Merely by using his imagination Tom can now create solid objects out of thin air. Just by goofing around, he's able to call a working bazooka into being. Experimentation leads to Tom finding that he can fly and summon up weapons. His favorite go-to move seems to be tooling around in a robot/golem-shaped construct (or maybe it's a force field?). In a way, Tom's newfound talent reminds me of Green Lantern's ability to manifest solid objects, although Tom doesn't need a paltry green bauble to do his thing.

Naturally, Tom becomes a superhero and takes on the codename FX. And living in a world where talking gorillas and horrible creatures called moleisaurs occasionally erupt from the earth to attack mankind, the fledgling crimefighter quickly gets his feet wet. Demonstrating that high school may actually really be the scariest time of your life, Tom tangles with a seriously disturbed nerd genius whose invention of a thinking cap grants him powers similar to and even exceeding FX's. FX also gets a chance to rub elbows with other superheroes, starting with the Fantastic Fou- *cough* I mean, the Foundation, four super-powered adventurers who get mind-controlled and end up trying to take out FX. Tom also gets to hang out with the HomeFront team as they go up against the world's most formidable Big Bad, Lord Erevos, the self-titled "Father of Death, the First Evil... and the Last." Lord Everos means to steal FX's power, and I frankly don't blame him, once I learned the source of Tom's power.

Tom gets support in his superhero career predominantly from his best friend Jack and then from fellow classmate Vicki, an odd scrawny girl who wields psychic abilities. I happen to think it's cool that Vicki now and then is haunted by a ghostly crusader (just another of those quirky throwaway touches inserted by Osborne). But I guess it's only natural that Jack would eventually feel jealous and left out and very resentful of being considered a sidekick. Soon Lord Erevos takes note of this.

Wayne Osborne takes full advantage of the thing, his writing of FX coming to involve cool nerdy stuff such as nostalgic elements from the golden & silver ages of comics, several iconic monsters from Universal Pictures, and even Greek Mythology. I don't know if it's that Osborne is new at this writing gig, but these issues come with a sense of enthusiasm and a simpler, more innocent feel. I guess it's also partly that the central character happens to be a young teenager, and partly because John Byrne's artwork lends itself to this old-school, old-fashioned look.

This FX trade paperback collects the entire six issues of IDW's limited series, with 14 pages of bonus John Byrne art (original FX covers and character designs in pencil). The storytelling on Osborne's part is easy enough to follow, lighthearted and kid-friendly, although it does show a certain rawness. Osborne probably could've done more with establishing depth and more background to his characters. He basically marches out that talking gorilla and the moleisaurs and his various superhero groups, but then neglects to fill in some necessary blanks. Tom himself could've used some more character development. Also, I would've liked to have seen Tom be more creative with his ability which, after all, can only be hampered by the boundaries of his imagination. But, then again, I ain't mad at Wayne Osborne. He doesn't do this for a living, doesn't know if IDW is gonna pick him up for a future limited series. So he wanted to throw in as much as he could of all the stuff he nerded out on, and, yes, characterization will suffer. As it is, FX is worth looking into; just keep in mind that it may not be as polished as some of the other products out there. But I had fun reading this, and wouldn't at all mind further installments. So I say check it out. And big ups to a regular guy who managed to live out a dream every comic book fan would rip out his left one for. Good job, sir.

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