The power of sub-atomic kung fu. Oh yeah!
Creative Staff:
Story: Jai Nitz
Art: Wes St. Claire
Letterer: Ryane Hill
What They Say:
Fu Jitsu is the world’s smartest boy, and has been for the last hundred years. Wait, what? Fu is an un-aging genius, and has had adventures around the globe and around the galaxy. From Einstein and the Wright brothers, to Gandhi and Johnny Unitas, Fu has met everyone in history while protecting Earth from Robert Wadlow, the world’s tallest man, and his dangerous magi-science.
Fu exiles himself to Antarctica to try to forget the painful break up with his ex-girlfriend, Rachel. Meanwhile, Wadlow returns from the far-flung future and sends James Dean, his ultimate assassin, to kill Fu at the South Pole. And you thought your teenage years were tough?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a pretty fun and varied list of titles under his belt over the years, Jai Nitz has his first AfterShock Comics series with this title and it’s one that just hits a really great sweet spot that we’ve seen from publishers the last couple of years in small doses. Nitz and artist Wes St. Claire provide for a kind of crazy energy here but it’s designed around having fun even if the stakes are serious. It’s not that it tries to be goofy but it has this incredible charm and lightness that lets it breeze through these sequences even as some pretty dark things hit. The end result is a book that drops a lot of information on us but does it in such a crazy and over the top way that makes it exciting.
This series is going to go big in that kind of way that you really have to just give into it on. The main focus will be on a 125-year-old man named Fu Jitsu. Born in 1897, he’s seeking enlightenment at the moment in a deprivation chamber in the antarctic as part of his facility. While he’s doing this because of a bad breakup, it’s through here that we see just what kind of crazy mad skills he has, a good look at his quirky personality and those that surround him, and that he’s a pretty chill guy overall. All of that changes when someone comes to kill him (James Dean of all people) and he uses a toaster to take care of that problem before heading back into the world proper to deal with the larger threat that’s going to be coming up against him. There are so many little quirky bits in all of this that it’s kind of too much but ends up really making it great for multiple readings.
What this book does really well is to balance the time with Fu by giving us a good look at the villain, Robert Wadlow, the “tallest man in the world.” He’s actually an ancient/immortal of some kind that has been going after weapons of power dating back to Cain and Abel and most recently leading up to the creation of his Atomic Katana in the fires of Nagasaki back in the 40’s. He’s intent on reshaping the world, using a couple of flunkies at the moment, and setting to ensure that Fu won’t stop him. We get a lot of creative flashback aspects to his path over the years as an info dump, including some fun with the Spear of Destiny, but the result is an intriguing villain that still has plenty that can be fleshed out but you’re already intrigued by what we have about him. Visually striking, amusing in style of dialogue, and wielding one really fascinating weapon with its origin, you can’t wait to see what he’s going to be capable of.
In Summary:
Fu Jitsu was the kind of blitz of a surprise that I like about trying new books. I had no idea what to expect going into it and it took a bit to reorient into its own particular style, but once you do it just wins you over completely. Nitz and St. Claire go into this with some great energy and enthusiasm that it’s positively infectious. Nitz handles the info dump as well as can be and it serves to make Wadlow an interesting character right out of the gate. What really helps is that St. Claire really does deliver in the visual design as there’s a richness to it that makes it worth poring over afterward, especially digitally, to soak up all the details. This should be one hell of a ride if the opening installment is any indication.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: September 27th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
